Michigan Solar Rebates and Incentives

Solar Rebate and Incentive Programs

  • Michigan Rebates and Incentives Summary


    Michigan, more exactly Detroit, is known as motor city and rock city. This history conjures up images of black leather, KISS and an awful lot of gasoline. Former Michiganders have complained about how wide the streets are, how little public transportation exists and how cold it gets in the winter. But the state is working to rebrand itself. While not pulling away from its history as a rock and roll heartland, the state is trying to diversify its industries, and one of the most attractive industries is the renewable energy industries. It’s also offering incentives for home and property owners to go solar to help foster the industry and meet the state’s renewable energy standard (RES).

    Under the RES, all of Michigan’s utilities must source at least 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2015. And the state has its work cut out for it. Hopefully the performance-based incentives, tax breaks, net-metering law and significant rebates offered by the state’s many utilities to meet their RES requirements will help Michiganders adopt solar and other renewables.

    Currently, Michigan's energy mix is—well—mixed. The state’s major electric producers are coal-fired power plants, which provide three-fifths of its power needs; three nuclear power plants supply an additional quarter of its energy. But renewable energy remains a small part of Michigan’s energy market.

    The majority of Michigan gets about 4 hours of direct sunlight per square meter per day, which is less than most southern states but enough to warrant solar. The state also has decent wind for turbine generation, though Michigan’s wind capacity is significantly lower than states to its west. As a northern state with cold winters, the state also is incentivizing insulation and energy efficiency investment for homes and buildings to help reduce their energy use.

    The state’s industrial history and position on the Great Lakes make it an ideal location for developing new industries and it could be a great location for wind and solar manufacturing. To that end, the state is offering incentives to attract renewable industries to the state, like the Renewable Energy Renaissance Zones, which offers businesses significant tax incentives to develop renewable manufacturing facilities in the state. Despite offering the Renaissance zones and other significant business incentives, the state has not yet established itself as a green energy manufacturing capital and faces stiff competition from other states like California, Colorado and Ohio.
     

     

  • Experimental Advanced Renewable Program


    Program Type Performance-based Incentive
    Technologies Photovoltaics
    Amount

    $0.525 per produced kilowatt-hour for residences, $0.65 per produced kWh for residential

    systems installed prior to May 10, 2010.
    Required Documentation Download both Instructions and Application from website
    Official Web Site http://www.consumersenergy.com/content.aspx?id=1801

    This popular program offered incentives for up to 2 megawatts (MW) of solar power to be added to Consumers Energy’s production mix. Already it has received applications for more than 6 MWs of solar to be added. However, of that 2 MW, 500 kilowatts was carved out for residential solar, and the company continues to accept applications for the program in case other projects drop out or additional funding becomes available.

    Under the program Consumers Energy will contract for up to 12 years to purchase electricity from participants’ PV systems at $0.65 per kWh—for systems installed before May 10, 2010—and $0.525 per kWh for systems installed after that. The program is not a net-metering program but a performance-based incentive program. The system must be manufactured in Michigan or installed by a Michigan work force to qualify.

    To be eligible for the program, residents must be customers of Consumers Energy. The installed system must have nameplate capacity of at least 1 kW and a maximum capacity of 20 kW. Nonresidential systems must have a minimum nameplate capacity of 20 kW, with a maximum capacity of 150 kW. Systems must be grid-tied and cannot include a battery backup.

    The program requires that participants have two meters, one for energy the customer purchases from Consumers Energy and another for energy produced by PV system. Consumers Energy also will own renewable energy credits produced by the system for the duration of the contract.

    The PV system must be owned by the Consumers Energy customer and be installed on the premises of the account or on a contiguous property owned or leased by the account holder.

  • Michigan Net Metering


    Program Type Net Metering
    Technologies Photovoltiacs, other renewables
    Amount Retail rate
    Required Documentation Interconnection agreement with utility and approval                                                             
    Official Web Site http://www.michigan.gov/netmetering

    Michigan’s net-metering law allows for renewable system owners to net meter systems up to 150 kW in size. Under the law, monthly net excess generation of systems up to 20 kW is credited toward a customer’s retail rate or time-of-use rate toward the customer’s future electric consumption for an indefinite period.

    The law does not require customers to be reimbursed for excess production on any regular basis. Customers may reach an agreement with their utility to be reimbursed for such generation. But if a customer chooses to leave the utility and opt for another utility or go off-grid, the utility must refund the customer the remaining credit amount.

    At present, the net-metering law only applies to alternative electric suppliers and rate-regulated utilities, which includes investor-owned utilities. The law includes net metering for a broad swath of renewables including solar, anaerobic digester gas, wind, biomass, geothermal, landfill gas, municipal solid waste and hydroelectric.

    Applicants must sign a standard interconnection agreement with their utility to be eligible for net metering.

  • WPPI Energy Renewable Energy Rebates


    Program Type Rebate
    Technologies Photovoltaics, Solar Thermal, Solar Hot Water Heating, Solar Space Heat and Wind Energy
    Amount

    PV: Up to $10,000. Solar-thermal: Up to $3,500 or 35 percent of project cost. Up to $2,500

    for system repairs.
    Required Documentation Renewable Energy Customer Incentive application and Contractor bid and site assessment for wind
    Official Web Site http://www.wppienergy.org/recustomerincentive

    The rebates are based on annual estimated production as calculated through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) PV Watts program. System owners can qualify for a one-time rebate of up to $10,000. The rebates are calculated at a rate of $3.00 per estimated produced kW hours for new construction and $2.50 per estimated produced kWh for existing buildings. If the system is installed by a non-NABCEP-certified installer the rebate is $2.00 per estimated produced kWh.

    To qualify for the rebates, residents must be retail electric customers of a WPPI-owned utility, which includes Alger Delta CEA, Baraga Electric Utility, Crystal Falls Electric Department, Gladstone Power & Light, L'Anse Electric Utility, Negaunee Electric Department, and Norway Power & Light in Michigan. Prior to installing a renewable energy system, customers must apply for the rebate. WPPI said it notifies applicants of approval within three weeks of applying and recommends that applicants don’t make a purchase until receiving written approval.

    Applicants have five months to complete the project. And must send a copy of the approval letter and receipt to WPPI to receive the rebate. For grid-connected systems, the system must be approved system for interconnection by the local electric utility prior to installation.

    Homeowners installing solar hot water systems and solar thermal heating systems with electric backups can qualify for rebates of $30 per square foot of collector area up to $3,500 or 35 percent of the project cost, whichever is less.

    Owners of existing renewable energy systems can also qualify for rebates equal to 50% percent of the cost of service and repairs up to $2,500 under the program. The rebate includes routine maintenance and major system repairs.

  • Michigan Solar Power Financial Incentives


    Financial Incentives

    Industry Recruitment/Support

    Personal Tax Credit

    Property Tax Exemption

    State Grant Program

    Utility Rebate Program



    Rules, Regulations & Policies

    Building Energy Code

    Contractor Licensing

    Energy Standards for Public Buildings

    Generation Disclosure

    Green Power Purchasing/Aggregation

    Interconnection

    Net Metering

    Public Benefits Fund

    Renewables Portfolio Standard

    Solar/Wind Permitting Standards




    Related Programs & Initiatives

    Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center
     

    The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center (AFDC) provides a wide range of information and resources to enable the use of alternative fuels and other petroleum-reduction options, such as advanced vehicles, fuel blends, idle reduction and fuel economy. The AFDC site offers a database of state and federal laws and incentives related to alternative fuels and vehicles, air quality, fuel efficiency, and other transportation-related topics.



    Green Power Network
     

    The U.S. Department of Energy's Green Power Network provides news and information on green power markets and activities, including opportunities to buy green power. This site provides state-by-state information on green power marketing and utility green power programs. In addition, the site lists marketers of renewable energy credits (RECs), also known as green tags or renewable energy certificates, which represent the environmental attributes of the power produced from renewable energy projects.



    Weatherization Assistance Program
     

    The U.S. Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) enables low-income families to reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy-efficient. Through this program, weatherization service providers install energy-efficiency measures in the homes of qualifying homeowners free of charge. The WAP program web site offers a state-by-state map of opportunities, projects and activities.



    Wind Powering America
     

    The U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Powering America site provides state-by-state information on wind projects and activities, including wind working groups, validated wind maps, anemometer loan programs, small wind guides, state-specific news, wind for schools, workshops and web casts.