JACKSON, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Google’s Project Sunroof found that Michigan’s 2.7B square feet of roof space could be harnessed by solar panels to generate 42 million mega-watt-hours of electrical current per year.

Currently, Michigan only draws about 1% of its in-state-generated energy from solar power. Much of this power comes from dedicated solar farms rather than solar roof panels.

What does the data indicate?

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According to the Project Sunroof data, if Michigan maximized its rooftop solar panel usage, up to 40% of the state’s electrical energy consumption could be supplied by solar energy.

Individual homeowners can use the Project Sunroof site to determine whether their roofs might be compatible with solar panels. Data from Google Earth allows Google to provide an estimate of hours of usable sunlight, square footage available for solar panels, and estimated net savings from installing the panels.

Solar panels are installed on the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office building.

In Jackson, Michigan, Project Sunroof found that installing solar panels on the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office building could save about $10,000 over 20 years (about $500 per year). Residents and commercial businesses that choose to install solar panels may also be eligible for federal tax credits.

The savings may not be enough to offset the cost of solar panel installations, however, which the Solar Energy Industries Association found averages around $25,000 for a residential system. This cost is down from 2010, when an average homeowner could expect to spend $40,000 on a solar system, but in many cases it is still higher than the expected savings even over long periods of time, during which the panels are likely to require repair and replacement.

What challenges do solar panels present?

From an environmental perspective, solar panels may present other challenges. According to a 2021 report from Harvard Business Review, solar panels are being replaced much faster than early estimates expected — and the trash from broken panels goes straight to the landfill.

“The industry’s current circular capacity is woefully underprepared for the deluge of waste that is likely to come,” wrote the authors of the HBR study. “The economics of solar — so bright-seeming form the vantage point of 2021 — would darken quickly as the industry sinks under the weight of its own trash.”

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