By K.D. Norris

WKTV Contributor

Individual homeowners seeing the advantages of solar energy, both financially and socially, is not new. Often, big industry, and big electric suppliers such as Michigan’s Consumer Energy, are “all in” on solar power and have the large-scale fields to prove it.

But for small to medium businesses looking at their bottomline, and non-profits looking to have their financial resources better spent, turning to solar has to make dollars and sense.

And more and more it is a viable option — financially and socially — for medium sized businesses such as Southwest Michigan’s Lakeshore Die Cast, Inc., Grand Rapids non-profit Hope Network and even WKTV Journal’s Wyoming home at WKTV Community Media.

Adam Schaller, vice president and day-to-day manager of the Schaller family-owned Lakeshore Die Cast of Baroda, told WKTV that the financial opportunities presented by his business going significantly solar was first and foremost a business decision.

But he and the business — employing 20-30 employees, and producing aluminum and zinc die castings — also are looking to the future as well as the bottomline.

“Sustainability and resilience are important to our company and us,” Schaller said. “As a generational business we think in larger term time scales and if there is some chance we are affecting the climate for future generations we should err on the side of caution and do what we can to leave the world a better place for future generations.”

Lakeshore Die Cast began its effort to go solar in 2019 and now has two solar installations, a 150 Kilowatt (kW) electric power producing array completed in 2020 and a 1.25 megawatt (MW) array completed in 2022.

“The installations take almost zero maintenance, aside from cutting the grass around them which I was doing anyway,” Schaller said. “They work when it’s cloudy and all year long.”

The amount of energy arrays such as Lakeshore Die Cast’s will generate is “well known,” Schaller said, and the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) has a calculator (https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/) where businesses can figure out how much a proposed array will generate.

The installer on both of Lakeshore Die Cast’s projects was Harvest Solar in Jackson, Mich.

“They did a great job on both projects with helping me understand and connect with people to figure out how to get projects of the size that I have installed,” Schaller said.

Non-profit organizations seeing solar advantages, too

Hope Network, through its own vision and a $3,655,547 grant from the State of Michigan, also is planning a solar future through its Solar PV and Battery Storage project.

The locally-based charitable non-profit “strives to provide educational, spiritual and healthcare assistance to high-need individuals and communities throughout Michigan,” according to its Jan. 5, 2023 grant application

“Unfortunately, Hope Network doesn’t always have the infrastructure to support their charitable operations,” according to the grant application. 

Hope Network’s Lowell location is an approximately 100,000 square-foot campus home to 50 individuals, and the administration is “burdened” with high energy costs and power outages “largely due to their antiquated equipment.” Currently, the campus utilizes 248,800 kWh of energy annually, and all of it is purchased through Consumers Energy. 

“This contributes to exorbitant energy costs,” according to the grant application, but the project is expected to “reduce energy costs, uphold energy security, and nearly eliminate carbon emissions.”

In 2022, Hope Network hired Johnson Controls to provide a preliminary study about the financial and environmental impacts of installing solar PV and battery storage. The study reported the potential cost savings to be nearly $790,000 in electric bill savings over 25 years. It would also decrease carbon emissions by 284,057 pounds annually, roughly a 99 percent reduction.

“We will use operational savings to expand community-based programming to serve our area,” according to the grant application. “A dollar that we save through this solar project is a dollar that we will reinvest back into our community through increasing supportive services, continuously improving our infrastructure, and expanding our educational offerings.”

WKTV becomes a solar powered facility

WKTV Community Media, its office as well as its broadcast operation, is now a literal solar powered facility with the majority of its energy being supplied by solar. The non-profit has 252 panels on its roof and with the advancement in solar technology, panels are now able to even generate power in full moonlight.

Since its solar installation in September, 2020, WKTV has saved 463,641.59 lbs. in emissions, equivalent to planting 3,503 trees. WKTV is expected to see a return on investment in 10 years.

“Since 1974, WKTV has been a leader in our community,” said Tom Norton, WKTV General Manager. “The technological availability of renewable energy is a perfect fit for our organization, and is a great example of our commitment to our community.”

Solar a big part of energy providers’ future

The move to expanded solar power generation and use, on a statewide scale, is led by the state’s largest energy supplier, Consumers Energy, which currently has three large-scale “solar gardens,” one at Western Michigan University, one at Grand Valley State University, and one in Cadillac.

“Consumers Energy is all-in on solar,” Josh Paciorek, Consumers Energy spokesperson, said to WKTV. “We’re adding more clean, renewable, solar-generated electricity for Michigan as part of our Clean Energy Plan. In addition to its environmental benefits, solar is increasingly cost competitive with other fuel sources.”

Consumers Energy currently generates about 4 percent of its energy from solar, Paciorek said. But “as part of our clean energy plan, you’re going to see an aggressive increase of solar generation between now and 2040 … we’re also seeing more and more of an interest in solar from customers.”

The City of Grand Rapids is one customer. The city installed solar at their Water Filtration Plant, and according to Paciorek the reasons were twofold: it made financial sense and it’s part of an effort to power the city with clean energy. 

Finding solar financing; finding grants

While Hope Network is starting its solar energy journey through a state grant, Lakeshore Die Cast needed a business partner to go solar. Enter Michigan Saves, which states it is  “the nation’s first nonprofit green bank.”

Michigan Saves, based out of Lansing, “is dedicated to making clean energy improvements easier for all Michigan consumers,” Lateshia Parker, Michigan Saves director of marketing and communications, said to WKTV. “Through affordable financing and other incentives, Michigan Saves connects borrowers to a network of skilled contractors for energy efficiency, geothermal and solar installation projects.”

From 2010 through June 2023, Michigan Saves has financed 1,714 solar projects, with 1,681 being residential and 33 commercial, according to Parker.

“Michigan Saves believes an equitable transition to a carbon-free Michigan where everyone has access to the benefits of clean energy and climate-resilient solutions is possible,” Parker said.

The Hope Network’s state grant was part of a $50 million series of low-carbon energy infrastructure enhancement and development grants approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission and announced in June of this year.

Another Grand Rapids area organization receiving a grant was $5 million to Kent County for its Kent County Bioenergy Facility at the Kent County Sustainable Business Park in south Kent County.

Buy-back rules, battery issues and more

There are two ways individuals, and small businesses and non-profits, can partner with Consumer Energy to turn to solar: the Solar Gardens enrollment program and the Distributed Generation program.

According to Consumer Energy’s Paciorek, customers who enroll in Solar Gardens pay about $10 a month to support solar projects and receive bill credits based on electricity generated by the gardens.

Many residential and business customers, however, use their solar power investments to “sell back” unused energy to Consumers Energy through its Distributed Generation program.

“When customers become part of the Distributed Generation (DG) program, the energy they generate will decrease their need to buy electricity from us, and we will also credit them for any extra energy they produce,” Paciorek said. “It’s good for the planet, and their energy budget, too. I’d note that we recently voluntarily doubled the size of our DG program.”

At Lakeshore Die Cast, which uses Indiana Michigan Power as its electric supplier, Schaller is comfortable with the current buy-and-sell power contract with his power company. But he wished there were better technology to allow him to store generated power as well.

“We operate on a standard tariff agreement with them where we buy inflow power we need and sell back extra power we make at wholesale market pricing,” Schaller said. But “we do not have any battery storage capability at this time. While there have been some large utility batteries installed in other places in the county, there isn’t much in the way of commercial sized battery installations in the market yet.”

For more information about Lakeshore Die Cast Inc., visit lakeshorediecast.com.

For more information about Michigan Saves, visit michigansaves.org.