A Michigan municipal utility will team up with a private company to build the state's largest solar energy project. Circle Power of Royal Oak has been awarded a contract to develop a large-scale solar power plant at two former mining sites, including the Groveland Mine in Dickinson County.
It is being developed by Circle Power of Royal Oak, a subsidiary of Circle Energy, Inc., and is listed at $399,000, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. But East Lansing City Council member Robert Lee disagrees that the solar panels are worth a lot of money for each property.
Stein helps plan community events and said one of the nonprofit's goals is to bring the Community Solar Project to Lansing. One of the sites is in East Lansing, and Stein said Michigan Energy Options has a partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the University of Michigan School of Energy and Environmental Sciences.
Howard said if the chosen project adopts the community solar model, it will be huge and represent the largest solar project in Michigan to date. Howard said the major solar projects in Michigan are owned by DTE Energy, which owns more than 1,000 solar panels in the Lansing area. The one in East Lansing will begin construction in 2018 when 800 to 1,000 panels are leased, he said.
Synk said he hopes that the new panels, once installed, will be able to meet almost all of their electricity needs with solar energy. Sarver said the cost of solar panels owned by utilities is about the same as a customer's, about $1,000 to $2,500 a month.
As a member of the Michigan EIBC, Michigan Energy Options has the opportunity to work with and learn from real leaders and innovators in this field. Michigan State University sits across the street from the East Lansing office, and the nonprofit has a partnership with the University of Michigan's Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency. He said that the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, such as the Solar Energy Institute, are among the best in the country.
Western Michigan has become a center for energy in recent years - related startups that have had a jolt to the state's economy and the energy industry as a whole. Scion Plasma LLC was selected to invest in a new project to reduce solar power costs, boost solar production, reduce bureaucracy, and make solar systems more resilient to cyber attacks. The East Lansing-based company, with offices in Lansing, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, is one of several startups that have recently received federal grants for solar energy production and innovation.
The project is a partnership with the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the University of Michigan's Center for Solar Energy Research and Development (CERD). It is part of a $1.5 million grant from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to Scion Plasma LLC. The project has received support from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Michigan State University.
The solar modules are located on a 45-hectare carport at MSU, which covers an area of about 1,500 square meters at the eastern end of the campus. The National Solar Tour 2020 also includes a self-guided tour of solar energy projects in Michigan and the USA and provides an informative webinar for future solar developers in May 2020.
The installation of the huge solar system is part of MSU's efforts to invest in research into sustainable energy, improve the environment on campus and reduce overall energy costs. Charles Gould is an MSU Extension educator who provides information to farmers and agribusiness in Michigan about the benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency for their farms, businesses and communities.
You can invest in a solar system in your own home or participate in community solar projects. Every system is different if you want to use solar energy for yourself, but all systems are different and you can do that.
This figure shows the estimated payback and break-even period for a home solar system in East Lansing, Michigan. These factors may affect the price, but they are not the only factors in the equation.
In October 2015, the Lansing Water and Light Committee approved two projects covering one hectare, providing 300 kW of power in East Lansing and Lansing. In addition, Michigan municipalities can tax the value of solar panels, creating a patchwork of uncertainty. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which includes renewable energy in its energy policy, is currently supporting the development of a new tax incentive program for solar energy projects in the state of Michigan and the creation of an increased tax rate on solar energy. We are working to evaluate these proposals in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Michigan Energy Commission (MEC).