Solar sees boom amidst push for local control | Politics [Video]

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) – Michigan has installed enough solar farms to power 255,000 homes, according to new data from the Solar Energy Industries Association.

It comes as the state is pushing to transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2040. Solar farms like those you might find along M-13 in Shiawassee County or outside Nexteer in Buena Vista Township are key to that.

“In 1973, we installed the first solar project in the United States,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA President and CEO. “Over the next 40 years, we installed more until we got to 1 million solar projects. So, 40 years, 1 million solar projects, and then it took only 8 years for us to get to 5 million which is where we are today.”

According to SEIA, $52 billion was invested in the industry nationwide last …