The sun is helping heat the water at the Denali Education Center at McKinley Village.

Officials gathered Friday for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at one of the largest solar water heating systems in the state.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the Alaska Energy Authority awarded $190,000 to Golden Valley Electric Association to commission the system. GVEA hired ABS Alaskan Inc. to design and install the system.

The center's campus of cabins includes 17 water heaters powered by both electricity and propane.

The new solar heated water is expected to save the center as much as $9,000 per year in energy costs.