Detroit plans neighborhood solar fields to capture light from blight

• Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announces Gratiot-Findlay, State Fair and Van Dyke-Lynch neighborhoods as sites for possible solar arrays, with DTE Energy and Boston-based Lightstar Renewables chosen as developers.
• Homeowners in five other neighborhoods under consideration for solar fields are being given a chance to sell their houses now, before the next three projects are selected in 2025.  
•  Duggan proposes using $4.4 million in an equity fund to purchase homes from those in the five neighborhoods still being considered for the next phase of projects.

Three Detroit neighborhoods have been selected to host solar fields that the city of Detroit says will help offset the energy used by city buildings.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said at a Monday press conference that the Gratiot-Findlay, State Fair and Van Dyke-Lynch neighborhoods had been selected for solar fields. The neighborhoods identified by the city Monday would host roughly 104 acres solar out of a total of 200 acres planned over six projects. The city plans to have DTE Energy and Boston-based Lightstar Renewables each develop three projects.

“Today, Detroit takes a step into a major national leadership role in fighting climate change,” Duggan said at the event in the footprint of the Gratiot-Findlay project.        

Related:

• Urban 'heat islands' in Great Lakes and the toll on human health
• Why Trump courts Detroit: He won’t win city. In close race, he won’t have to
• Before, after photos show transformation of Michigan Central Station in Detroit

“One-hundred twenty-seven city buildings are currently powered by 33 megawatts of energy per year from traditional sources, largely fossil fuels,” Duggan said. “In the next two years, we are going to build solar fields that are going to produce that 33 megawatts of energy in renewable energy, effectively generating all the power for city buildings from solar fields.”

Duggan has pitched the Neighborhood Solar Initiative as a way to fight climate change and cut down on illegal dumping by fencing off abandoned areas. But community engagement around the plan has been fraught, with some feeling the plan is a unique opportunity to clean up largely abandoned blocks and invest in neighborhoods while others fear large solar arrays could hurt property values and drive further disinvestment.

Duggan said Monday that the program targets “some of the most blighted areas in the city” and would be “helping neighborhoods that think they’ve been forgotten.”

Homeowners in the footprint of the proposed solar fields stand to receive twice the fair market value of their homes or $90,000, whichever is higher, while renters will get 18 months of rent to relocate. Homeowners within community benefits areas surrounding the projects will receive $15,000 to $25,000 each for energy efficiency upgrades. 

A total of 21 homeowners will be relocated for the first three projects. The city will use condemnation to acquire the property of landlords and vacant landowners.

In the five neighborhoods still being considered for solar, 28 of the 31 homeowners have already signed letters of intent to sell their homes, Duggan said. He has proposed drawing on a  $4.4 million equity fund to purchase these homes, funding derived from the Utility Conversion Fund, which is legally required to be used on energy conversion. Additionally, $14 million in capital costs for the initiative will  be paid for with the fund.

The city expects total operating costs for the first three projects to run to $1.1 million a year, after deducting energy credits and savings on city services for the area in the footprint of the solar fields.

Duggan said the Inflation Reduction Act reduced the cost of the program by 30% with automatic tax credits.

Residents say projects could reduce blight, create jobs

Several Detroiters told Planet Detroit they think the solar initiative could help clean up neighborhoods, allow residents to make important home repairs and create jobs in the city.

Donna Anthony, a Gratiot-Findlay resident, said the solar panels would be a welcome change from the blight in the neighborhood, where dumping has been an ongoing concern.

Anthony also hopes to pay for several home upgrades with the community benefits money, including a new furnace. But she said the program could have an even bigger impact for those selling their homes.

“Some people have been through so much crime, so much violence, so much blight,” she said. “And they don’t want to retire in a home or in an area that they might be the only person on that whole block.”

Tammy Black, a Jefferson Chalmers resident and CEO of Communities Power, a business that installs solar panels in low-income neighborhoods, said she hopes the initiative will create good jobs for Detroiters while helping the environment.

“Young people, they don’t have a mission right now,” she said. “They’re too worried about day-to-day living.”

She said solar industry jobs could alleviate some of this economic stress and help educate the community about environmental action.

Support for solar lacking in some areas

Support for solar arrays in city neighborhoods has been far from unanimous. Detroit dropped a plan for a project in Grixdale Farms after residents raised concerns about the potential for solar fields to hurt property values or add to issues with blight and crime in the area outside the project’s footprint.

A recent study on solar fields in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Massachusetts found properties within half a mile had values drop by 1.5%, although outcomes varied by state.

And while experts say solar power is crucial for dealing with the climate crisis, research shows solar arrays can create a localized increase in temperature. This may be a problem in Detroit, where the heat island effect, or the capacity of hard surfaces to absorb and re-emit heat, can amplify temperatures by 8 degrees or more.

A survey of 158 Michiganders performed by Michigan State University Energy Lab in the fall of 2023 found residents were more likely to support solar development if it lowered community energy costs, with less than half supporting nearby solar projects.

Support was even lower near DTE’s 10-acre O’Shea Solar Park on the west side of Detroit, the city’s first large-scale solar development. Only a third of those living near O’Shea supported the project, with respondents saying they favored housing to solar development by a margin of 18 to 1.

Council approval still needed for plan

After Grixdale Farms was removed from consideration for a solar project, Duggan spokesperson John Roach told Planet Detroit that the remaining neighborhoods all had “overwhelming support” for solar, among both homeowners willing to sell and nearby neighbors.

City council is currently considering the first three projects and their approval will be needed before land acquisition, community benefits and solar installation can take place. The final three projects will be announced and presented to the city council in 2025.

Councilmember Angela Whitfield Calloway said last week that she supports solar fields in the city, but not in majority Black neighborhoods or parks. However, Councilmembers Coleman A. Young II and Fred Durhal III expressed their support for the initiative at the press conference, while Duggan praised Councilmember Scott Benson’s involvement with the project. 

Durhal said the solar program was important for creating a cleaner environment for future generations and he encouraged residents to talk to others about its potential.

“Put the word out to your neighbor that we’re cleaning up Detroit now, we are taking steps forward,” he said. “This is not the old Detroit; we’re talking about the new Detroit.”