Solar power in Michigan
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Solar power in Michigan has been growing in recent years due to new technological improvements, falling solar prices and a variety of regulatory actions and financial incentives. The largest solar farm in Michigan is Assembly Solar, completed in 2022, which has 347 MW of capacity. Small-scale solar provided 50% of Michigan solar electricity as recently as 2020 but multiple solar farms in the 100 MW to 200 MW range are proposed to be completed by the middle of the decade. Although among the lowest U.S. states for
solar irradiance Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre (W/ ...
, 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. Michigan had over 759 MW of solar capacity in 2021. December 2020 marked a high point with over 105 MW brought online in that month alone. December 2021 saw 110 MW added.Table 6.3. New Utility Scale Generating Units by Operating Company, Plant, and Month, Electric Power Monthly, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed 2022
/ref> In 2016, solar provided only about 0.25% of all electricity. This rose to 0.58% in 2021.


Solar farms and arrays

The 347MW Assembly Solar Project is be the largest in the state. Located in Shiawassee County, it began construction in 2019 and was completed in March 2022.McCarthy Completes Construction of Michigan’s Largest Solar Farm in Shiawassee County, Michigan
March 30, 2022
In July 2012, Michigan's largest rooftop array, 977.6 kW, was installed in
Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...
on the
IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...
store. Ford Motor Company and
DTE Energy DTE Energy (formerly Detroit Edison until 1996) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services in the United States and Canada. Its operating units include an elec ...
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. In 2015, DTE built a 1.1 MW solar farm at Domino's Farms near Ann Arbor, slightly larger than the Ford carport. The IKEA store announced an expansion of its existing array in 2015 to bring it to 1.2 MW. A 1.95 MW solar farm at DTE's Greenwood Energy Center near St. Clair came online in January 2016.
Indiana Michigan Power American Electric Power (AEP), (railcar reporting mark: AEPX) is a major investor-owned electric utility in the United States, delivering electricity to more than five million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest gen ...
, in November 2016, opened a 4.6 MW solar farm near Watervliet. In May 2017, DTE brought online two solar farms in Lapeer County: a 28.4 MW farm and a 19.6 MW solar farm. 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. In July 2017, DTE completed a 2MW solar farm built in a closed city park in Detroit. The 24 MW Delta solar farm opened in two phases in 2018, supplying power for the Lansing Board of Water and Light.
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
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. A 1.3 MW solar farm was built by American Municipal Power at a
brownfield site In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...
in Coldwater and came online in February 2018. Flushing Schools built a 0.96 MW system spread over the roofs of seven school buildings, completed in 2019. In December 2020, the 20 MW Temperance Solar,Firm begins work on solar farm in Erie
Monroe News, Dean Cousino, June 19, 2020
20 MW Bingham Solar, 15 MW Electric City Solar and the first 50 MW phase of Assembly Solar Farm were all brought online. In January 2021, Pine Gate Renewables brought 16 MW of solar power online in the form of eight separate 2 MW solar farms in Genesee and Saginaw counties. Fort Custer began construction in May 2015 of a 0.25 MW solar farm with plans for a second 0.3 MW farm later. 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. 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. Orion Renewable Energy Group, has proposed a 100 MW solar farm in SE Goodland Township in Lapeer County.


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 500 kW-hr battery.


Community solar

In 2015, several
community solar A community solar project, farm or garden is a solar power installation that accepts capital from and provides output credit and tax benefits to multiple customers, including individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other investors. Participants ...
projects were proposed. Consumers Power built a 3 MW solar farm at
Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...
, completed April 2016, which became the largest solar farm in Michigan. Consumers Power also built a 1 MW community solar project at Western Michigan University, completed in August 2016. Spartan Solar, a 1.2 MW installation in
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
, was built by Wolverine Power Cooperative in fall 2016, the largest solar plant in Northern Michigan. A 0.3 MW community solar farm in East Lansing opened in January 2019 for Lansing Board of Water and Light. Escanaba approved a 1MW partly community solar installation near Delta County Airport to be online in 2018


Proposed and under construction

Pittsfield Township approves 20 MW Community Solar Project on 77 acres owned by Ann Arbor. A proposed 125 MW solar farm near Muskegon would also be among the largest in the state. Ranger Power's 149MW River Fork solar farm would be built in Sheridan Township, Calhoun County by mid-2021 and has an agreement with Consumers Energy. Ranger has also proposed a 200 MW farm in Montcalm County to be called Freshwater Solar. The 200 MW Calhoun Solar Energy Center is proposed in 2019 by Invenergy for Convis Township in Calhoun County which signed an agreement with Consumers Power in March 2021. In 2019, Ann Arbor proposed a 20 MW solar farm on a closed landfill site. In February 2020, Michigan State University's board approved a proposal to seek a 20 MW solar farm on 100 acres. Traverse City is investigating a 10MW solar farm at the Cherry City Airport and a 1MW farm on a waste dump; nearby Acme Township is working on the 9MW Trailside Solar Farm. A 150 MW solar farm to be built in Coldwater in Branch County was seeking planning approval in 2021. Copper Country Power has an agreement to build solar farms on two former mining sites in the Upper Peninsula: Groveland Mine in Dickinson County, and 7 Mile Pit in Crawford County. Superior Solar Project will be a 150 MW solar farm in Sands Township, Marquette County. White Tail Solar would be a 120 MW farm in Washtenaw County, A 100 MW solar project in Hart, Michigan will be online in 2023.


Distributed solar

Distributed solar is not widely used in Michigan, with 14,446 installations. The total electric generation capacity of these installations was 124,749 kilowatts (kW) at the end of 2021. However, customer participation and installations are increasing quickly, with a 53% increase in capacity in 2019. On Jan 21, 2023 Consumers Power agreed to double the cap on its distributed rooftop solar and legacy net metering program from 2% to 4%. Additionally, the rate at which the company credits rooftop solar customers for the excess power fed onto the grid will be based on power supply rates that factor in transmission costs.


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. 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. Cypress Creek has filed complaints, in 2018, against DTE and Consumers Power for failing to comply with the
PURPA The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA, ) is a United States Act passed as part of the National Energy Act. It was meant to promote energy conservation (reduce demand) and promote greater use of domestic energy and renewable energy (inc ...
law. In August 2019, Consumers Power proposed to allow 584 MW to connect to the grid by September 2023. This was 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. In September 2019, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved the settlement.Michigan poised to nearly quadruple its solar power capacity
Michigan Radio, Tracy Samilton, September 13, 2019
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. In 2020, Consumer Power expanded on this plan by announcing it would become carbon neutral. 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. ImageSize = width:360 height:240 PlotArea = width:290 height:150 left:40 bottom:40 AlignBars = late DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:7000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1000 start:0 TextData = pos:(15,220) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:MW pos:(175,25) textcolor:black fontsize:S text:Proposer pos:(90,230) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:Proposed solar installations Colors = id:yellow value:yellow PlotData= width:30 textcolor:black bar:current color:yellow from:0 till:113 bar:SierraClub color:yellow from:0 till:1100 bar:CypressCreek color:yellow from:0 till:2600 bar:Consumers color:yellow from:0 till:6200


Solar industry

Michigan was ranked 14th among U.S. states for solar jobs in 2013. In 2002,
Stanford R. Ovshinsky Stanford Robert Ovshinsky (November 24, 1922 – October 17, 2012) was an American engineer, scientist and inventor who over a span of fifty years was granted well over 400 patents, mostly in the areas of energy and information.Avery Cohn, "A ...
built a factory in Auburn Hills, Michigan to build low cost
Uni-Solar Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) was an American photovoltaics manufacturer of thin-film solar cells made of amorphous silicon used in flexible laminates and in building-integrated photovoltaics. The company was also a manufacturer of rechargeab ...
panels using amorphous semiconductors that generate power in diffuse light. 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.
Suniva Suniva is a 100% American owned, U.S. based manufacturer of high-efficiency crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. Headquartered in metropolitan Atlanta, with a state of the art cell manufacturing facility in Georgia, Suniva had sold i ...
opened a solar panel factory in Saginaw, Michigan in 2014, capable of producing 200MW of panels per year. Suniva closed its Michigan plant in March 2017 and later filed for bankruptcy.


Government policy

The
Government of Michigan Michigan has a republican form of government with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of Michigan and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the Hous ...
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 November 20, 2019, Governor Whitmer signed legislation exempting rooftop solar & alternative energy systems up to 150 kW from property tax assessment.


Net metering

The state had a
net metering Net metering (or net energy metering, NEM) is an electricity billing mechanism that allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime, instead of when it is generated. This is particularly importa ...
program that allowed installations of up to 20 kW of on-site electrical generation to continuously roll over any excess generation to the next month. Participation was limited to 0.75% of utilities peak demand the prior year. Peak demand for the state for 2011 was 21,477 MW. 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. Co-op electrical providers are not covered by the same rules but some moved to alter their rates after the state board's ruling.


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. This standard was met mostly by wind power. A program to add 2 MW of
distributed solar Distributed generation, also distributed energy, on-site generation (OSG), or district/decentralized energy, is electrical generation and storage performed by a variety of small, grid-connected or distribution system-connected devices referred t ...
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. 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." 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. The referendum's backers including Tom Steyer then stopped its campaign. In September 2020, Gov. Whitmer signed an executive order for "statewide decarbonization by 2050." 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


Statistics


Largest farms


See also

*
Wind power in Michigan Wind power in Michigan is a developing industry. The industrial base from the automotive industry has led to a number of companies producing wind turbine parts in the state. The development of wind farms in the state, however, has lagged behind. I ...
* List of power stations in Michigan * Solar power in the United States * Renewable energy in the United States


References

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


External links


Incentives and policiesSolar Ypsi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solar Power In Michigan Michigan Economy of Michigan Energy in Michigan