The Metro: The reason for Ann Arbor’s rooftop solar boom
Solarize started as a group neighbors banding together to get group discounts on solar installations in Ann Arbor. Now it has spread across metro Detroit.
FILE - Nicholas Hartnett, owner of Pure Power Solar, holds a panel as his company installs a solar array on the roof of a home in Frankfort, Ky., July 17, 2023.
In 2019, Michigan’s largest utility ended what’s called net metering. That meant if you had solar panels, you no longer got full credit for the extra energy you sent back to the grid. So, instead of getting a dollar’s worth of credit, you might get 30 cents.
But in Ann Arbor, this didn’t slow down rooftop solar, or make it less attractive financially. Solar installations exploded there —from 17 per year before 2019 to 180 per year since 2020.
This is partly because of a program called Solarize — neighbors banding together to get group discounts on solar installations. Now it has spread across metro Detroit.
Julie Roth launched Solarize. Today, she’s the energy manager at the city of Ann Arbor’s Office of Sustainability and Innovations. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
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