PARIS — A local company has increased its energy conservation efforts with 1,600 square feet of solar cell panels completed last month.

The project at Bancroft Contracting Corp. is expected to offset about 33 percent of the company’s yearly electricity use. The photovoltaic array is expected to produce 27,050 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

In addition to the panels, Bancroft also completed energy efficiency work,  including a new lighting system, new fixtures and replacement of old equipment.

“It went smoother than I thought,” Michael Morin said Tuesday. Morin, the operation support manager for Bancroft, said there were “no headaches” in the solar and efficiency projects.

On weekends and at other non-working hours, Bancroft will feed power back into the grid and receive credit for the extra power produced, Morin said.

The project received federal assistance through the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP, which provided a total of $40,000 for the solar and efficiency projects. According to a release from Bancroft, the company also received cash incentives through Efficiency Maine.

Bancroft was one of eight Maine businesses to receive REAP funding this year.

The project is expected to pay for itself in less than five years.

The solar panels aren’t the first green upgrade for Bancroft. In 2007, the company installed geothermal heating and cooling systems, which reduced heating costs by 90 percent, CEO Mark Bancroft said in a release.

Bancroft provides heavy construction services in Maine and across the Northeast.

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