The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded two contracts totaling $306,424 for projects on Laysan Island under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The federal stimulus money will go to Northern Management Services, a maintenance and general contracting company based in Sandpoint, Idaho. The projects will employ eight workers, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The company will install a solar panel array at the Laysan Island research facility to provide power for water desalination, communication equipment and other critical needs. The existing system will be used for secondary power needs, the service said.

Other work involves replacing a food storage unit and four deteriorating metal-frame fabric structures used as living quarters.

Laysan Island is about 930 miles northwest of Honolulu. The island is part of the the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.