Consumers energy solar rebates
For more information on SEIA’s work in Michigan, please contact Nakhia Morrissette.
Notable Solar Installations in Michigan
- Assembly Solar in Lennon was developed by Ranger Power and was developed from 2018-2021. This 333.8 MW project produces enough electricity to power 54,105 homes. 5
- Target, Ford, and General Motors have all gone solar in Michigan. Ford’s 2 MW project at their headquarters is one of the largest corporate projects in the state.
- At 34.6 MW,Demille Solar Farm in Lapeer is among the largest solar installations in Michigan. Completed by DTE Energy in 2017, this solar project has enough electric capacity to power more than 5,608 homes. 7
Check out our Major Solar Projects List for more notable installations.
Solar Companies in Michigan
Looking for a local installer? Use SolarReviews to get company reviews and estimates for solar in your area. You can also view the average costs for installing solar in Michigan, based on real price data from installed systems and solar quotes.
If you’re looking for information about local solar companies, check out EnergySage’s list of solar companies in Michigan, where you can check out information about each company and see real customer reviews.
Michigan State Solar Policy Resources
DSIRE Incentives Database – Michigan – Search a public clearinghouse for specific solar energy incentives in Michigan and across the United States
Michigan Public Service Commission. Learn about the governing body that regulates the electricity rates and services of Michigan public utilities
Michigan State Legislature. Track pending legislation affecting solar energy, locate and contact individual legislators, and stay up to date on current legislative issues in New Mexico
Michigan Solar Panels Overview. Learn about the history of solar policy in Michigan, along with up-to-date pricing information on EnergySage
Solar Panel Cost in Michigan. Learn about the history of solar policy in Michigan, along with up-to-date pricing information on EnergySage
Solar Rebates Incentives in Michigan. Check out EnergySage’s list of key solar incentives in Michigan to see what programs you can benefit from
U.S. Energy Information Administration – Michigan State Profile. Explore official energy statistics, including data on electricity supply and demand, from the U.S. government
The legislation is ‘a win for consumers‘
Beyond those financial incentives, consumers who make efficiency-focused home upgrades would likely reap other direct benefits like lower electricity and heating bills. The legislation’s overall effect — including financial incentives aimed at businesses, too — is also expected to yield indirect financial benefits for consumers, experts said.
The average household would save about 170 to 220 a year in electricity costs — a total 209 billion to 278 billion over the next decade — due to the bill’s combined policies, according to an estimate by Resources for the Future.
Generating more power from renewable energy would also help diversify the economy’s energy mix — substantially reducing volatility in home electricity caused by shocks to oil and gas markets such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, according to Lesley Jantarasami, managing director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy program.
The legislation would also help cut greenhouse gas emissions by 42% below 2005 levels. That would close two-thirds of the remaining emissions gap between current policy and the U.S.’ 2030 climate goal, meant to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to a preliminary analysis by Princeton University’s REPEAT Project, which models federal climate policy.
The legislation itself is clearly a win for the climate in terms of the emissions it would drive, and is structured in a way that it ends up being a win for consumers, as well, said Kevin Rennert, a fellow at Resources for the Future.
Here’s a breakdown of the Inflation Reduction Act’s major financial components for individuals.
,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles
The bill extends and tweaks an existing tax credit — worth up to 7,500 — to individuals who buy new clean vehicles like electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The credit would be available through 2032.
However, there are limits that apply to consumers and the vehicles they buy:
- Income requirements: Married couples don’t qualify for the new-vehicle credit if their modified adjusted gross income on a joint tax return exceeds 300,000. The limit is 150,000 for single tax filers.
- Vehicle price requirements: Individuals don’t qualify for the tax break if their van, sport utility vehicle or pickup truck costs more than 80,000. There’s a 55,000 sticker-price limit for other vehicles. For perspective, the average sticker price for a new electric vehicle in June was about 67,000 — roughly 19,000 more than the industry average for all new vehicles, according to Kelley Blue Book.
- Vehicle qualifications: There are also limits that apply to where the car was manufactured and the sourcing of battery and other vehicle components. The intent is to accelerate development of domestic supply chains and U.S. manufacturing of clean vehicles but may limit the tax break’s availability in the near term as auto companies adjust. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group, said it would take a few years for the vehicles available today to qualify for the full consumer incentive.
But the tax credits and additional savings on fuel, maintenance and repairs may level the playing field, experts said. The average consumer who buys an electric vehicle saves 6,000 to 10,000 over the car’s lifetime, relative to an equivalent gas-powered vehicle, due to those lower costs, according to a 2020 Consumer Reports study.
,000 for used electric vehicles
The bill also creates a tax credit for used versions of clean vehicles. Buyers could get 4,000 or 30% of the sale price, whichever is less.
As with the new vehicle credits, there are limits:
- Income requirements: Consumers qualify if their modified adjusted gross income is less than 150,000 for married couples or 75,000 for single filers.
- Vehicle price: The sale price can’t exceed 25,000.
- Sale qualifications: Buyers only get the credit if it’s the first sale of the used vehicle. They can also only get the credit once every three years.
- Vehicle qualifications: The car model must be at least 2 years old.
Low-cost solar loans in Michigan
Homeowners in Michigan can access low-cost financing to install home solar through Michigan Saves, a non-profit green bank. The bank offers loans of 450,000-100,000, depending on its lender partners. Loan terms are up to 15 years, with interest rates as low as 3.99% currently. There are no annual or early repayment fees with these home improvement loans, and homeowners can use them to install solar and carry out energy efficiency upgrades.
Michigan businesses can also access financing for energy efficiency upgrades, which includes some solar equipment, through the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program. Loans are repayable as part of the property tax bill over 5-20 years and are low-interest and accessible.
There are no residential PACE loan programs currently available to homeowners in Michigan.
State property tax exemptions in Michigan
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer reinstated the state’s property tax exemption for solar installations in 2019 by signing bills SB 1105 and SB 1106 into law. These bills exempt home solar energy systems from personal property tax and instead apply a payment in lieu of taxes (PILT) program.
Under the separate payment plan, solar developers pay no more than a maximum PILT rate fixed in the state’s law and based on the size of the solar energy system. However, the taxpayer can negotiate a lower charge with their local assessing authority.
The fixed PILT rate is 4,000 per megawatt, plus an additional 500 per megawatt-hour of storage capacity, both in alternating current (AC). For most homeowners installing an average-sized 8 kW array, the proposed property tax would be just 32 each year. Not bad for a potential 4% increase in your home’s value!
Net metering in Michigan
The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) eliminated full retail rate net metering in 2019, with most utilities switching to a lower rate of compensation as of 2021. The new rules also maintain a cap on how many net-metered or distributed generation customers can sign up with a utility before the utility is allowed to stop offering the program. Some utilities, such as Consumers Energy, have already met that cap but are still allowing customers to sign up for distributed generation.
DTE Energy, one of the main investor-owned utilities in Michigan, credits customers for energy outflowing to the grid from a home solar energy system. The credit is worth the cost of electricity minus transmission charges (so, less than retail rate). These credits are used to offset the cost of electricity a customer draws from the grid in any given month, with any excess exported energy credits banked and deducted from the cost of power on future bills.
DTE has also asked the PSC to approve changes to its distributed generation program that would see solar customers pay a monthly charge based on their peak usage each month. Some experts warn that this could kill residential solar in Michigan as the charges may outweigh any savings customers would make by going solar.
DTE’s Demand Charge for solar
Buried in a proposed rate schedule sent to the Michigan Public Service Commission in January 2022, DTE describes introducing a Demand Charge for residential solar customers. This charge would be based on peak energy usage and could add as much as 100 to a customer’s monthly bill if approved.
In Kansas, solar customers who paid a similar Demand Charge for several years were recently issued refunds by their utility after the Kansas Supreme Court deemed the charges discriminatory and unconstitutional.
DTE’s proposed Demand Charge has not been approved by the PSC, and may never come to pass, especially given that the PSC already rejected DTE’s request to make solar customers pay a ‘system access contribution charge’. If it does pass, though, Michiganders who sign up for solar now may be able to remain on the current tariff as a legacy agreement.
Design Of Solar Panel System: See How It Actually Works (Photovoltaic System)
Do Solar Panels Work on Cloudy Days, at Night, in Rain? Yes No (Here’s How)
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The Biggest Lie About Renewable Energy
24 Solar Panel for water pump Photo by Shailsh Telang / Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0). Resized and Changed Format from Wikimedia Commons
25 Solar panels in Naklo Photo by Tiia Monto / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0). Resized and Changed Format from Wikimedia Commons
26 Red-tailed Hawk by the solar arrays Photo by Deb Nystrom / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0). Resized and Changed Format from Flickr
27 Solar panels on house roof winter view Photo by Gray Watson / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0).Resized and Changed Format from Wikimedia Commons