Oct 29 2010
Michigan with its predominant rough winters, cloudy and gray skies plans to rely a lot on solar power to handle its electricity requirements. According to the Director of the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Amy Butler, the spotlight was on developing the solar industry with regard to funding and implementation.
A Michigan Technological University’s economics Professor (MTU), Mark Roberts, stated that the key benefits from solar energy are the reduction of pollution, along with its renewable nature. The users need not link their system to the power grid. The Solar cell’s silent operation with reliable solar panels is another benefit. Surplus electricity could be sold to the utility companies by the solar power users who also qualify for tax incentives.
According to the State Energy Office’s Supervisor of technical assistance, John Sarver, Michigan has several solar energy programs either operational or in the developmental stages including several large-scale projects. The projects include the 10 KW system at Traverse City’s Northwestern Michigan College; Grand Traverse County Civic Center where solar panels, lighting improvements and boiler replacements are to be installed by using a federal grant of $353,575, at Traverse City; Installation of a 150 KW system nearby Detroit’s parking ramp by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; Installation of a 500 KW system in Monroe County Community College; and a 8 MW system installation by the Coldwater Board of Utilities.
Solar energy systems also have a number of disadvantages such as prohibitive costs of materials, dependence on the sun, the weather, nighttime darkness, clouds and so on, for efficient solar energy; and much higher expenses when compared to the non-renewable energy supplied by utility companies. In spite of these disadvantages, solar systems are still popular because of their small size and unobtrusive nature.
Source: http://www.michigan.gov/