The City of Detroit has officially announced Houston-Whittier/Hayes and Greenfield Park as the next two neighborhoods selected for the city’s Solar Neighborhoods Initiative.
According to certain reports, this Phase 2 expansion is expected to introduce 61 acres of solar fields to bring Detroit’s total solar infrastructure to an impressive 165 acres. More on that would reveal how the stated efforts will support city’s overarching goal of producing 31 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, a volume which is sufficient to power over 127 municipal buildings throughout Detroit.
Markedly enough, both the neighborhoods in question were selected following a competitive process, a process where the goal was to take vacant, blighted land, and put it to use by generating enough clean energy to power City municipal buildings. These buildings included all police and fire stations, transit centers, City administrative buildings, recreation centers, health clinics, City Airport, and more.
“Detroit is taking real action to fight climate change, while removing blight and investing in long-neglected areas,” said Mike Duggan, Mayor of Detroit. “Now, two more neighborhoods in our city know that they have not been forgotten.”
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in the fact that Lightstar, one of the nation’s leading solar developers, has been selected to build 63 acres of solar fields in the Gratiot/Findlay and State Fair neighborhoods in Phase 1 and 19 acres of solar fields in the Houston-Witter/Hayes neighborhood in Phase 2.
Taking a more specific of this Phase 2, it will provide 18.7 acres worth of solar capacity and 2 relocation homeowners within the Solar Array, while simultaneously bestowing 70 Community Benefit homeowners with $15,000 each in energy efficiency upgrades.
“Lightstar is proud to partner with the City of Detroit in creating solutions that benefit the environment while uplifting local communities,” said Owen Deitcher, of Lightstar Renewables. “Innovative methods like agrivoltaics prove that solar energy can simultaneously support urban agriculture and neighborhood transformation.”
Like we briefly touched on, the expansion in question actually builds upon the success of Phase 1, which delivered solar fields to Gratiot-Findlay, Van Dyke-Lynch, and State Fair neighborhoods, collectively adding 104 acres of renewable energy infrastructure.
Talk about Detroit’s Solar Neighborhoods Initiative on a slightly deeper level, it is designed to help the city go beyond clean energy creation to provide what would be 35 years worth of renewable energy. You see, solar arrays will operate for decades. Once the determined duration is over, the land utilized for the given purpose will be restored to greenfields.
Next up, the program is also made to preach urban farming innovation at scale. For instance, it will leverage the power of agrivoltaics to offer urban farmers designated land, empowering them to grow crops with up to 50% less water usage and protection against frost.
Almost like an extension of that, by combining agriculture with energy, the initiative will look to support farmers with meaningful stipends, operational training, and resources for scalable growth. Such an arrangement will ultimately go on to boost local livelihoods.
“The work we’re doing with Solar Neighborhoods is about more than renewable energy—it’s about creating opportunities,” said Brianna Fiorillo, Policy & Strategy Manager, Midwest at Lightstar. “We’re energizing communities, empowering farmers, and showing the world that solar can build resilient cities.”
