Muskegon solar array will be Michigan’s largest

Thanks to the Grand Vision for the find…

Inovateus Solar, Chart House Energy and Torresen Marine are partnering on a $740,000 solar power development atop the 28,000 square foot sailboat storage facility at Torreson Marine in Muskegon. Their press release says that at 150kW, Torreson Solar will be the largest solar power project to date in the state of Michigan.   The system will offset the power of the Torreson Marine facility by 30%   and produce the equivalent energy it takes to power 20 homes in the Muskegon area.

A WMMT story notes that:

…even though Michigan has a reputation for being cloudy and overcast, with 65 percent of days being sunny on average, it’s prime real estate.

“Actually, believe it or not, this location provides more solar energy than Miami,” said Robert Rafson of Chart House Energy. “It is actually quite a bit sunnier and less cloudy here during the summer.”

“Michigan has a lot of great incentives right now,” said (Kathleen) Torresen, “and they have some goals on the percentage of power they’d like to be in place, not coming from current sources.”

SolarPowerRocks.com’s page on Michigan solar echoes that, stating that Detroit gets an average of 4.2 hours of sun a day – plenty for solar power, and that solar panels produce more energy when it’s cold. Add to that Michigan’s new renewable energy standard, and it’s likely that this facility in Muskegon won’t be Michigan’s largest for long.

You can follow the construction of the solar array on the Torreson Marine webcam and become a fan of Torresen Solar on Facebook.