University of Michigan to hold public meeting Wednesday on solar panel project off Fuller Road
Solar panels were installed off Plymouth Road this fall.
Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com
The installation is set to begin this spring on North Campus. The array is planned for the north side of Fuller Road, between Murfin and Bonisteel roads and near U-M's architecture and engineering schools.
The installment is expected to be roughly the same size as the 2.4-acre Plymouth Road array, which was installed in the fall of 2012 without the consultation of nearby residents.
The Plymouth Road installation generated a lot of feedback, with many Ann Arbor residents praising U-M for supporting solar energy, while others criticized the university's approach to solar energy and the community and called the array an eyesore. Ward 2 Councilwoman Sally Petersen said the installation "took place without direct communication" with community members and led to "resentment and anger toward" the university.
The meeting will be held at the Boulevard Room in Pierpont Commons, at 2101 Bonisteel Boulevard in Ann Arbor.
View New University of Michigan solar installation s in a larger map
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
LarryJ
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:35 p.m.
" . . . but don't the installation / construction of big DTE power plants (burning coal...) measure payoff in decades or more?" It's even worse than that. That is their balance sheet if you ignore the environmental damage (climate change, health problems, destruction of land in W. Va., etc.). If you attach any kind of reasonable dollar cost to the balance sheet of coal-burning plants, they just go deeper into the negative, year after year. I'm all for the solar panels. Please install more of them.
NoSUVforMe
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:31 a.m.
Clean Air Task Force study: "... over 13,000 deaths each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. power plants." Why do some people rail against wind and solar? DTE paid posters are part of a propaganda campaign to fool people into believing that renewable energy is bad. Don't be fooled. DTE makes billions from burning filthy coal and you and your children are breathing their poison.
NoSUVforMe
Fri, Apr 26, 2013 : 2:25 a.m.
They paid about 10 million to defeat the renewable energy proposal. They flood every renewable discussion with disinformation, every one. They make BILLIONS selling coal. The big concern now, and you should know it, is they want to invest in generation using coal that will be stranded (useless because less expensive, cleaner alternatives will exist). Rate payers, not shareholders, will be stuck with these horrible DTE decisions becau our monopoly system is broken. So you agree with me. DTE should lose its monopoly status and should have shareholders pay for stupid decisions?
JoeNuke
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:48 p.m.
DTE is installing the solar arrays. DTE has an allowed rate of return on its investments that the MPSC uses when considering electricity rates, so it will not lose money by installing the solar panels. I truly doubt DTE is paying anyone to post against renewable energy. The company touts these investments to financial analysts: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NDk2MzE1fENoaWxkSUQ9NTM1MTYzfFR5cGU9MQ==&t=1 or: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=68233&p=irol-presentations
NoSUVforMe
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:12 a.m.
When is the last time a solar panel killed a child with asthma?
Tom Joad
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 6:20 p.m.
It would be helpful if you included the energy output from this solar array. Of course these expensive solar projects only produce energy when the sun is shining and a solar future for America is long way off because the amount of panels required to significantly offset electricity generated from coal-powered electric generators is significant.
NE Steward
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 5:34 p.m.
Not many residents around the second installation - I see it more of an "internal" campus installation so...would be surprised to see many A2 family residents/neighbors at the meeting. It is not far from the U of M/Ford Nuclear Reactor that is being decommissioned - or is it done? Also waiting for the promised landscaping on the 1st installation.....tired of looking at the bleachers.
DonBee
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 5:30 p.m.
Horse, barn, door.
DJB
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 4:26 p.m.
When will the orange temporary fence on Plymouth get replaced? They have not finished the first project yet.
Rick Stevens
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 4:10 p.m.
L.C. - but don't the installation / construction of big DTE power plants (burning coal...) measure payoff in decades or more? And solar panels start to pay off a lot faster, no air pollution and as electric costs rise the payback on solar increases.
JoeNuke
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 1:32 p.m.
Photovoltaic solar costs more than other non-polluting sources, including wind and nuclear power. Solar has one advantage over wind in that its energy production is highest when electricity demand is at its peak in the summer on hot days. Michigan mandates renewable energy in its power mix (which includes polluting sources such as wood burning). Ratepayers and taxpayers support the incremental costs.
L. C. Burgundy
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 5:07 p.m.
Coal is basically dead domestically anyway. No one's doing new investments in it. As far as appreciable and economical energy production is now concerned, natural gas is now king (and the reason why the U.S. carbon footprint is actually dropping by a nontrivial amount). The real payback on solar projects in this area is > 30 years. You can throw cash at it to make people do it, but we just have too much winter and too many clouds to make solar energy production viable to meet energy needs.
SEC Fan
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 4:08 p.m.
Too bad it won't be closer to Pioneer High...they could use the energy to get them windmills to spin...
L. C. Burgundy
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 2:25 p.m.
My only objection is that solar power really doesn't make a lot of sense in one of the stratus capitals of the nation. It's superficial "greening." Unsubsidized, the payoff periods of these projects in this area of the country are measured in decades. But I don't get to pick the winners and losers, so...
NoSUVforMe
Thu, Apr 25, 2013 : 12:10 a.m.
Rarely is someone so uninformed yet so confident in what they are saying that is totally wrong. People are making informed decisions that you don't like. You obviously prefer breathing particulates from DTEs power plant.
L. C. Burgundy
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 9:36 p.m.
Yeah, arboriginal, that's all great, but it still doesn't change the fact that southeast Michigan is a lousy place for solar power generation. Look at any map and we're in one of the worst spots in the lower 48 for solar. These kinds of installations are basically just for show. In this part of the country, they generate too little power, too unreliably, in this part of the country to be a real solution to long-term bulk energy needs. And if we were serious about reducing fossil fuel dependence, we would develop next-generation nuclear-powered reactors, but I haven't seen much of that going on either.
Arboriginal
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 6:46 p.m.
Germany. For starters. What you have failed to monetize is the health problems associated with the burning of fossil fuels. Sooner or later, we will have to go the route of renewables. Why not now? Let's be our very own Great Generation!
L. C. Burgundy
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 5 p.m.
Wind and solar gets far higher subsidies per unit of energy generated compared to pretty much any other source. The per unit energy comparison is important wind and solar just doesn't generate all that much power. Regardless of the subsidy situation, using solar panel production capability to do a build out in southeast Michigan is just kind of goofy. Can't they just invest somewhere where there's a little more sun and call it an offset?
Arboriginal
Wed, Apr 24, 2013 : 3:54 p.m.
What energy source is not subsidized?