One of the more significant renewable-energy technologies developed in Hawai'i will receive a boost next week when a 4-acre solar farm is blessed and officially begins providing power to the Big Island's electrical grid.

A Dec. 10 dedication has been set for the $20 million project, which will showcase the concentrating solar technology developed by Honolulu-based Sopogy Inc. The 500-kilowatt- capacity solar farm can power more than 250 homes and eliminate the need to import more than 2,000 barrels of oil annually, company officials said.

"It's exciting for the state," said Ted Peck, state energy administrator, explaining that Sopogy's concentrating solar power collectors, along with other technology being developed, holds potential for use elsewhere.

"It's high technology that he's exporting from the state."

Sopogy's technology makes use of a half-barrel-shaped collector that reflects and concentrates sun energy. It can heat liquids as high as 400 degrees.

This heat can be used for a variety of purposes, including producing steam to turn turbines connected to electrical generators. Sempra Energy is conducting a test in Southern California using Sopogy collectors to drive chillers in air-conditioning systems.

Darren Kimura, Sopogy president and chief executive, said the project at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai'i in Kona will be the biggest application of Sopogy's collectors to date. There it has installed 1,000 of the 12-by 5-foot devices.

"The Kona project is the first time this type of collector has been used in this way," Kimura said. "It could pave the wave for other similar projects."

He said the technology costs less to manufacture, can be configured to track the sun's path and is about twice as efficient as photovoltaic panels. It's slightly less efficient than big solar collectors that employ large amounts of land to focus mirrors on water in a tower to produce steam, but is less costly, Kimura said.

That's drawn some international attention. A 50-megawatt project is proposed by Sopogy in Spain. Kimura said he expects international press people may arrive for the dedication. The collectors can also be used to produce heat and in desalinization systems.

The Kona project was developed by a company spun off from Sopogy, Keahole Solar Power LLC, which also has come up with technology of its own to run the venture.

One drawback of most solar energy systems is their intermittent nature when the sun goes down or behind clouds. Keahole has developed a storage system for the heated liquid that can provide power hours after sunset. It's also worked on software and controls for integrating the farm's output with utility transmission grids.

Peck said the development of a storage component was an important step forward.

"A cloud can come over these and the output keeps going," said Peck, who said the project is the second-largest solar farm in the state behind the 1.2-megawatt capacity photovoltaic system on Läna'i.

Kimura said the project, named "Holaniku at Keähole Point," was funded with Sopogy's own money and that from investors. He said the farm has been up and running for most of this year, and it could be expanded by five times its current capacity.

Sopogy also has $35 million of revenue bonds authorized to build a farm on O'ahu, but the bonds can't be issued because of the current condition of financial markets.

Keahole Solar's goal is to develop 30 megawatts of projects throughout the Islands in the next six years.