Solar power in Michigan

Solar power in Michigan has been growing in recent years due to new technological improvements and a variety of regulatory actions and financial incentives, particularly a 30% federal tax credit, available for any size project. Although among the lowest U.S. states for solar irradiance, Michigan mostly lies farther south than Germany where solar power is heavily deployed. Michigan is expected to use 120 TWh per year in 2030. To reach a 100% solar electrical grid would require 2.4% of Michigan's land area to host 108 GW of installed capacity.[1]

Red-tailed hawk at University of Michigan NCRC solar array

Michigan had over 176 MW of solar capacity in 2019.[2][3] Solar provided only about 0.25% of all electricity.[4] According to the Michigan Public Service Commission, the state had an estimated 27 MW of solar capacity as of the end of 2014, counting utility and distributed generation.[5]

Solar farms and arrays

In July 2012, Michigan's largest rooftop array, 977.6 kW, was installed in Canton on the IKEA store.[6] Ford Motor Company and DTE Energy built the largest solar plant in the state, a 1.04 MW solar car port at Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan in 2015.[7][8] In 2015, DTE built a 1.1 MW solar farm at Domino's Farms near Ann Arbor, slightly larger than the Ford carport.[9] The IKEA store announced an expansion of its existing array in 2015 to bring it to 1.2 MW.[10] A 1.95 MW solar farm at DTE's Greenwood Energy Center near St. Clair came online in January 2016.[11] Indiana Michigan Power, in November 2016, opened a 4.6 MW solar farm near Watervliet.[12][13] In May 2017, DTE brought online two solar farms in Lapeer County: a 28.4 MW farm and a 19.6 MW solar farm.[14] These are the first large utility-scale solar farms in the state, with the larger covering 200 acres of land and the smaller one covering 100 acres.[15] In July 2017, DTE completed a 2MW solar farm built in a closed city park in Detroit.[16]

The 24 MW Delta solar farm opened in two phases in 2018, supplying power for the Lansing Board of Water and Light.[17][18] Michigan State University built the largest solar car port project in North America, that covers 5000 parking spaces and has a total of 15 MW(DC) of power, completed in December 2017.[19][20]

A 1.3 MW solar farm was built by American Municipal Power at a brownfield site in Coldwater and came online in February 2018.[21][22] Flushing Schools built a 0.96 MW system spread over the roofs of seven school buildings, completed in 2019.[23][24]

Fort Custer began construction in May 2015 of a 0.25 MW solar farm with plans for a second 0.3 MW farm later.[25] This is part of the U.S. military's renewable energy goals of 25% renewables by 2025. In 2017, a project was announced for Fort Custer that would be a microgrid consisting of a 1.375 MW diesel system, 0.720 MW solar PV array, and a 0.400 MW energy storage system.[26] Camp Grayling has a small 0.02 MW installation on one building roof while Selfridge Air National Guard Base had no solar power by 2014.

Solar with battery storage

"Circuit West" is a thirteen-block microgrid test in Grand Rapids. It contains a 0.65MW array of 1,800 panels on the roofs of three buildings and a 500kW-hr battery.[27]

Community solar

In 2015, several community solar projects were proposed. Consumers Power built a 3 MW solar farm at Grand Valley State University, completed April 2016, which became the largest solar farm in Michigan.[28] Consumers Power also built a 1 MW community solar project at Western Michigan University, completed in August 2016.[29][30] Spartan Solar, a 1.2 MW installation in Cadillac, was built by Wolverine Power Cooperative in fall 2016, the largest solar plant in Northern Michigan.[31] A 0.3 MW community solar farm in East Lansing opened in January 2019 for Lansing Board of Water and Light.[32][33] Escanaba approved a 1MW partly community solar installation near Delta County Airport to be online in 2018[34]

Proposed and under construction

The 239MW Assembly Solar Project will be the largest in the state. Located in Shiawassee County, it began construction in 2019 and may be online in 2020.[35]

A proposed 125 MW solar farm near Muskegon would also be among the largest in the state.[36][37] Ranger Power’s 149MW River Fork solar farm would be built in Sheridan Township, Calhoun County solar farm by mid-2021 and has an agreement with Consumers Energy.[38][39] In 2019, Ann Arbor proposed a 20 MW solar farm on a closed landfill site.[40] In February 2020, Michigan State University's board approved a proposal to seek a 20 MW solar farm on 100 acres.[41]

Distributed solar

Distributed solar is not widely used in Michigan with 2,289 installations totally 17,000 kW, providing 0.02% of the state's electricity, as of 2015.[42]

Large-scale solar plans

Despite having only reached 100 megawatts of installation statewide by 2018, thousands of megawatts have been proposed or included in planning documents. In response to DTE Energy filing a proposal for 2023 which included a 1.1GW natural gas plant with almost no new solar installations, renewable energy advocates proposed a plan with 1,100 megawatts of new solar capacity, 1,100 megawatts of wind, and 253 megawatts of demand response which they claimed would satisfy criteria at a lower cost.[43] The state panel backed the DTE proposal in April 2018.

In 2017, Cypress Creek Renewables announced plans to build 2,600MW of solar plants in Michigan but has received no contracts from the 2 major power companies.[44] Cypress Creek has filed complaints, in 2018, against DTE and Consumers Power for failing to comply with the PURPA law.[45] In August 2019, Consumers Power proposed to allow 584 MW to connect to the grid by September 2023. The is almost four times the entire state total for solar power at the time of the proposal. They also propose accepting as much as 3000 MW to be connected to the grid at a lower purchase price per kilowatt hour over a longer timeframe. The proposal would need approval from the state electrical rate board.[46] In September 2019, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved the settlement.[2]

In June 2018, Consumers Power announced a plan detailing changes from now until 2040 that would see it close all coal plants, use only natural gas for 10% of current needs and have the majority of its power supplied by solar. This would require building 6,200MW of solar as well as using 450MW of battery storage.[47] In 2020, Consumer Power expanded on this plan by announcing it would become carbon neutral.[48]

In September 2019, DTE Energy announced it was seeking bids for 25 to 200 megawatts of electricity from solar projects to be online between 2021 and 2023.[49]

Solar industry

Michigan was ranked 14th among U.S. states for solar jobs in 2013.[50]

In 2002, Stanford R. Ovshinsky built a factory in Auburn Hills, Michigan to build low cost Uni-Solar panels using amorphous semiconductors that generate power in diffuse light.[51] Uni-Solar became the second largest manufacturer of thin film solar cells, after First Solar, and a developer of solar shingles before going bankrupt in 2012.[52][53]

Suniva opened a solar panel factory in Saginaw, Michigan in 2014, capable of producing 200MW of panels per year.[54] Suniva closed its Michigan plant in March 2017 and later filed for bankruptcy.

Government policy

The Government of Michigan has taken a variety of actions in order to encourage solar energy use within the state. In 2018, a bill passed the state house to give solar installations a property tax exemption. On Nov 20, 2019 Governor Whitmer signed legislation exempting rooftop solar & alternative energy systems up to 150 Kw from property tax assessment. https://www.energycentral.com/c/ec/gov-whitmer-signs-solar-energy-legislation-michigan-eibc-gala-east-lansing

Net metering

The state had a net metering program that allows installations of up to 20 kW of on-site electrical generation to continuously roll over any excess generation to the next month. Participation is limited to 0.75% of utilities peak demand the prior year.[55] Peak demand for the state for 2011 was 21,477 MW.[56]

In 2018, the net metering program was ended (with those already enrolled getting a 10-year grandfather term). The new inflow/outflow system will require new customers to pay full price for all electricity going in and receiving a credit based on avoided cost to the utility for electricity going out to the grid. Each utility will have to set this price in its rate case which must be approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission. Bills were introduced into the state house within weeks to alter this system as favoring large utilities over solar owners.[57] Co-op electrical providers are not covered by the same rules but some moved to alter their rates after the state board's ruling. A package of energy bills has been introduced to return net-metering & allow microgrids: https://energynews.us/2019/10/22/midwest/bipartisan-energy-freedom-bills-resurface-in-michigan-one-at-a-time/

Renewable portfolio standard

The state adopted a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in 2008 which required that 10% of Michigan's electricity come from renewable resources by 2015.[58] This standard was met mostly by wind power. A program to add 2 MW of distributed solar by Consumers Energy customers was reached in two weeks, and the state directed the company to offer another 2 MW at a cost not to exceed $20 million.[59]

In December 2016, a new energy policy was adopted which calls for 12.5% renewable power by 2019 and 15% by 2021. It further calls for power suppliers to "obtain at least 35% of the State’s electric needs through energy waste reduction and renewable energy by 2025."[60]

Before the 2018 election, a referendum calling for "30% by 2030" was circulating. In response, DTE and Consumers Power promised at least 50% consisting of 25% actual renewables and 25% efficiency and demand reduction.[61] The referendum's backers including Tom Steyer then stopped its campaign.[62]

Bills were introduced in January 2020 to require all of Michigan utilities' energy generation be renewable by 2050. https://housedems.com/article/rabhi-chang-propose-all-renewable-electricity-2050

Installed capacity
Michigan Grid-Connected PV Capacity (MW)[5][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]
Year Capacity Change % Change
20070.4
20080.4—
20090.70.375%
20102.61.9271%
20118.86.2238%
201219.911.1126%
201322.62.714%
201427.24.620%
2015NANA
201637.5
2017113.576203%
20181534035%
201918835

Largest farms
Solar farms in Michigan with over 0.5 MW of capacity
NameLocationSize (MW)Notes
DeMille Solar FarmLapeer County28.4DTE
Delta Solar I and IIEaton County24Lansing Board of Water & Light
Turrill Solar FarmLapeer County19.6DTE
Spartan PV 1East Lansing10.5Michigan State University carports
WatervlietWatervliet4.6Indiana Michigan Power
Solar Garden 1Grand Valley State University3.00Consumers Energy, community solar[71]
O'Shea Solar FarmDetroit2.0DTE Energy
Greenwood Energy CenterAvoca1.95DTE Energy[72]
Canton IKEACanton1.22

[73] [74]

Coldwater SolarColdwater1.20American Municipal Power[75]
Spartan SolarCadillac1.20Wolverine Power, community solar[76]
Stateline Farms SolarMorenci1.21.0 MWAC, Wolverine Power Cooperative[77]
Gerken Paving SolarLenawee1.21.0 MWAC, Wolverine Power Cooperative[77]
Harvest Solar LenaweeLenawee1.21.0 MWAC, Wolverine Power Cooperative[77]
Domino's FarmsAnn Arbor1.08DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Ford World HeadquartersDearborn1.04DTE Energy SolarCurrents
M-72 Solar ProjectTraverse City1.0Traverse City Light & Power [78]
Western Michigan UniversityKalamazoo1.0Consumer Energy Solar Gardens program
GM Warren TransmissionWarren0.9DTE Energy SolarCurrents[79]
Highland CemeteryYpsilanti0.84[80]
McPhailWixom0.82DTE Energy SolarCurrents[81]
Romulus SolarRomulus0.75DTE Energy SolarCurrents
University of MichiganAnn Arbor0.67DTE Energy SolarCurrents, 2 locations[82]
Thumb SolarCaro0.66DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Circuit WestGrand Rapids0.65Consumers Power, with 500kW-hr battery
HeliotekHolland0.525[83]
GM Detroit-Hamtramck AssemblyHamtramck0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents[84]
Ford Michigan AssemblyWayne0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Hartland SchoolsHartland0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Liepprandt OrchardPigeon0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents[85]
Monroe County Community CollegeMonroe0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Indian Springs MetroparkWhite Lake0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Riopelle FarmsHarbor Beach0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
St. Clair RESAMarysville0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of MaryMonroe0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Brownstown SolarTaylor0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents
Wil Le FarmsBad Axe0.5DTE Energy SolarCurrents

See also

References
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Package of Energy bills introduced: https://energynews.us/2019/10/22/midwest/bipartisan-energy-freedom-bills-resurface-in-michigan-one-at-a-time/

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