FedEx will build the so-called solar array atop its two-building distribution hub at Oakland International Airport. It will generate 904 kilowatts, which will provide about 80 percent of the peak load demand for the 1,700-person facility and is roughly equivalent to the power consumed by 900 homes during the day.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the project is expected to pay for itself in energy savings within nine years. It is slated for completion by May 2005.

Earlier this year, Mayor Brown laid out goals to produce five megawatts per year of solar power by 2005, 25 by 2010 and enough to power 100 percent of the city by 2030.

"People in Oakland are wrestling with respiratory problems and asthma and we have to look at transportation and electrical generation issues," said Randy Hayes, the mayor's director of sustainability.

The city has secured the funding to set up solar power equipment capable of generating one megawatt across a cluster of municipal buildings, is planning another megawatt's worth for the pending Uptown residential project and has installed solar arrays producing anywhere from 26 kilowatts to 115 kilowatts across a handful of other developments.

Berkeley-based PowerLight Corp. will design and build the FedEx project.

The largest private solar power system in the state today is the Rodney Strong Vineyard in Healdsburg, which produces 766 kilowatts, according to PowerLight spokeswoman Susan DeVico.