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FAQ: Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All pilot grants Request for Proposals

FAQ: Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All pilot grants Request for Proposals

Solar for Savings is the first grant program under the MI Healthy Climate Challenge, funding MI Solar for All pilot projects to reduce energy costs, enhance resiliency, and expand access to solar for low-income households.

With $156 million in federal funding, the MI Solar for All Program aims to help reduce energy costs and improve energy reliability and resiliency for low-income families and communities, by implementing residential-serving community solar, residential rooftop solar, enabling upgrades, and energy storage projects that provide benefits to participating low-income households that are equivalent to a 20% reduction on the average household electricity bill.

  • I am a private citizen interested in installing solar panels on my home. What do I need to do to apply?

    A private citizen or individual household is discouraged from applying for this round of pilot grants. Proposals that aggregate single-family residential rooftop solar projects are preferred for the Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All pilot grants. There may be opportunities for individual homeowners to apply under one or more of the funded pilot grants, and opportunities for individual homeowners to apply for opportunities will be taken into consideration when designing the final MI Solar for All program offerings. 

  • When is online Questions and Answers (Q&A)?

    An online Q&A will not be held for the Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All Pilots Request for Proposals (RFP).  General office hours for MI Solar for All are expected to begin in August.

  • If an entity is selected to implement the pilot, are they still able to apply for implementation of the full program?

    Yes. If an entity is selected for a Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All pilot grant, they are still eligible to apply for future MI Solar for All program offerings.

  • If MI Solar for All receives a high volume of proposals in May, is it possible that the June or July application periods will not occur?

    If MI Solar for All receives a high volume of Solar for Savings proposals by the first review deadline of May 30, 2025, and all grant funding is awarded in the first review, subsequent rounds of review will not occur.

  • Are there minimum or maximum amounts for grant awards?

    Maximum budget per category and number of expected awards are listed in Section 1.3.1, Funding Amounts, of the RFP. For example, in the Solar for Savings RFP, a total of $6.5 million is budgeted towards residential-serving community solar projects, where one or more awards will be awarded in that category. Though there are no minimum grant amounts for grant awards for the Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All pilot projects, Solar for Savings proposals that aggregate single-family residential rooftop solar projects are preferred.

  • What is the maximum size for an eligible project?

    The maximum size for a MI Solar for All residential-serving community solar project is 5 MWac. The maximum budget per category and number of expected awards are listed in Section 1.3.1, Funding Amounts, of the RFP. Please note that additional size limits may apply to residential rooftop systems, as determined by the Michigan Public Service Commission and Michigan law. 

  • Is a 501(c)3 public charity that does not have supporting low- and zero-emission products, technologies, or services as its primary mission eligible to act as a pass-through for the subrecipient/partner under the Solar for Savings Grant Challenge?

    All not-for-profit entities are eligible to apply, except nonprofit organizations exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities. Even if solar-related work is not its primary mission, any nonprofit that meets the above eligibly criteria is eligible to apply. 

  • Could a municipal wastewater utility apply for the Solar for Savings funds?

    Yes. A municipal wastewater or water utility could apply for the Solar for Savings funding under the residential-serving community solar area as long as the project meets all of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Solar for All Program requirements.

  • Could a non-profit organization serving disadvantaged communities apply if the project does not provide any credits or electricity to the community?

    Projects applying under the residential-serving community solar area must share 50 percent or more of the benefits generated by the solar array with eligible low-income households within the same utility service territory as the solar array. Please see U.S. EPA Solar for All Terms and Conditions, which have to be met by all Solar for Savings grant awardees. Residential-serving community solar projects must provide benefits that are additive, either providing new benefits to eligible low-income households or expanding existing services to serve additional new-income households. These benefits do not have to be provided on an electricity bill and can be provided in innovative fashions that best serve your community. A project that proposes to have MI Solar for All help fund installations of residential-serving community solar but does not intend to share 50 percent or more of the benefits from the solar array with eligible low-income households does not meet U.S. EPA Solar for All Terms and Conditions.

  • It would be helpful to get answers to certain questions, like tax adder availability, before making applications for the Solar for Savings opportunities. We read about a “10% Energy Communities Bonus Adder” that seems to apply to solar projects in most of northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, yet we are unable to find anyone who has used it or can confirm that it is still in existence. Help!

    As of this writing, the 10 percent Energy Communities Bonus Adder exists.  There are townships in the Upper Peninsula that installed solar and are claiming the bonus credit.

  • Can a pilot project funded under the MI Solar for All: Solar for Savings Pilots utilize elective pay?

    Yes. Applicants are strongly encouraged to take advantage of elective pay. The State of Michigan, Michigan Infrastructure Office’s Technical Assistance Center provides support on direct pay to eligible entities. See its website for more information on direct pay and available technical assistance.

  • Does a project have to be “shovel ready” or ready to deploy solar soon to apply for a Solar for Savings pilot?

    No. Projects do not have to be shovel ready to apply for the Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All Pilot RFP, but they must complete the application and provide the necessary details to be considered.

  • We propose a project installing residential rooftop and battery storage for homes, but the homes have not yet been selected. Do you prefer that we choose 10 residential homes for the MI Solar for All pilot?

    As long as the proposed project meets Solar for Savings requirements and U.S. EPA Solar for All Terms and Conditions, you can apply without having selected the homes that will participate. In your project application, please detail the process that will be used to select participating homes, as well as when you anticipate these homes will be selected.

  • It is unclear how front-of-the-meter residential serving community solar projects will be administered, especially when looking to site them in investor-owned electric utility service territories. Clarifications on how to pursue these projects in DTE and Consumers Energy service territories would help entities better plan projects and submit for MI Solar for All funding opportunities, like the Solar for Savings RFP.

    Front-of-the-meter community solar projects are eligible and can be administered in partnership with a utility or otherwise. For a list of electric utility providers, contact information, and service territories, please visit the Michigan Public Service Commission’s (MPSC) website. Front-of-the-meter residential-serving community solar projects within MI Solar for All do not necessarily have to provide benefits on an electric bill and could provide participating low-income households benefits in innovative fashions as long as they meet U.S. EPA Solar for All Program Terms and Conditions.

    For guidance on how a program serves a household, please see the U.S. EPA Frequent Questions about Solar for All.  It share examples of recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for how benefits may be shared indirectly from solar photovoltaic systems in situations where households do not have individual electricity meters. Please note that for-profit entities may partner with entities eligible to apply for Solar for Savings funding, like nonprofits and governmental entities. For a more specific illustration of how an investor-owned utility might approach this situation, please contact EGLE-MISFA@Michigan.gov.

  • Can you provide guidance on interconnection of multifamily dwellings with multiple meters and what a Solar for Savings: MI Solar for All pilot project with such a setup might look like?

    Please visit MPSC's generator interconnection webpage for more information. Each utility has its own interconnection procedures. The MPSC website provides links to this information for investor-owned utilities and member-regulated co-operative utilities, as well as hosting capacity maps for Consumers Energy and DTE Electric. Multifamily dwellings with multiple meters could submit projects under the residential rooftop solar or residential-serving community solar areas of the Solar for Savings funding opportunity.

    If submitted as a residential rooftop solar project, the multifamily solar project would have to provide direct electric bill reductions to each participating low-income household.  This could occur from installing solar arrays to service each household (one solar array for each low-income household meter in the multifamily dwelling).  This approach is commonly seen in Michigan. If the utility allows its interconnection, it is also technologically possible to install one large solar array for a multifamily dwelling, where the power is divided and shared amongst different residents within the building.

    If submitted as a residential-serving community solar project, the multifamily dwelling could install solar to serve dwelling units and common spaces. The project must meet U.S. EPA Solar for All Terms and Conditions for residential-serving community solar (e.g., 50 percent or more of the solar array benefits are shared with eligible low-income households in the same utility service territory, 5 Megawatts of alternating current (MWac) or smaller, etc.). The benefits from the community solar array could be shared in innovative methods, as long as the participant benefit requirements for the U.S. EPA Solar for All Program are met.

  • We are interested in proposing a solar and storage project. Can we submit one proposal that requests funding from two categories? Or is there a better approach?

    Yes, an applicant may submit a proposal that requests funding from two or more categories. Please note that funding for enabling upgrades and/or associated storage pilot must be tied to an eligible solar project, so to request funding in either of those categories, an applicant must also apply for funding under a residential rooftop or community solar category.

  • Are projects that provide Power Purchase Agreements eligible? For example, a Michigan company applies for a grant to build a solar system and sells the power at a 50 percent discount relative to market rates to a nonprofit or other customer that serves low-income households.

    Projects proposing power purchase agreements are eligible, as are lease-to-own installations, as long as all other Solar for Savings, MI Solar for All, and U.S. EPA Solar for All Program Terms and Conditions are met. This includes the requirement to:

    • Deliver a benefit equal or equivalent to at least 20 percent of the average annual household electricity bill in the utility service territory where the solar panel system is located to participating households.
    • Ensure that the solar energy is produced within the same utility territory in which the beneficiaries reside.

  • We understand there is interest in providing benefits from community solar arrays in a creative manner. If a recipient is a municipal utility or co-op, a bill credit would be easy to implement and likely require less coordination or overhead in sharing the benefit than gift cards or vouchers. Would there be a penalty against proposals that would lead to a bill credit for low-income households?

    There is no penalty for proposing projects where benefits from residential-serving community solar is provided via an electric bill or other utility bill credit for participating low-income households, as long as the benefits and participating beneficiaries meet program requirements. 

  • For multifamily housing owners seeking grants, if the home is a single or multi-residence dwelling rental, how does Solar for All evaluate whether the tenants are low-income, especially since tenants change over time?

    Beneficiaries must meet the low-income requirement. For multifamily properties applying for a Solar for Savings grant, the proposal must outline how the project will ensure that current and future beneficiaries meet MI Solar for All requirements. While the individual beneficiaries may change over the life of the project, all must meet the low-income requirement at the time they receive the benefit. 

  • Is the payback period considered for cost of the project? For example, installing ground-mounted solar panels in an open space is more cost-efficient per KW than a parking lot canopy install. But a parking lot canopy may be preferable to the customer, or the parking lot is the only space they have available, and is also a creative use of space that otherwise is not developable.

    Though the payback period will be considered in evaluating project proposals, other considerations and benefits that may not necessarily be economically valued will also be considered.

  • Will the program give preferable scoring to projects that have better economies of scale that may ultimately provide more benefit? Or would smaller projects increase the likelihood of receiving a grant for this pilot round of funding in 2025?

    Projects that provide more benefit to low-income participants per MI Solar for All investment will be reviewed favorably. No preference for pilot project size has been established. However, grant proposals that aggregate single-family residential rooftop solar projects are preferred.

  • Our plan is to make a subaward to the subrecipient/partner. Is it permissible for our organization to make a direct subaward to the subrecipient/partner or would we be required to obtain bids?

    It is permissible to select one or more project partner(s) that an organization, if awarded, will make a direct subaward to, as long as the project partner(s) and the project are detailed in the approved application and the project and project team meet all U.S. EPA Solar for All Program Terms and Conditions.

  • How are grant funds disbursed to the applicant and at what milestone(s) will they receive funding if their application is approved?

    Grant funds are disbursed on a reimbursement basis, where grantees submit payment requests with supporting documentation.

  • The guidance from the Office of Climate and Energy indicates that this is a reimbursement grant rather than a grant that is paid out ahead of work. Receipts are required for reimbursement. Will the Office of Climate and Energy accept the subrecipient/partner’s receipts as evidence of payment?

    Yes, if the grantee is working with a subrecipient, EGLE will accept their support for work performed. If the grantee is hiring a subcontractor to complete the work, EGLE expects to see their documentation as well as an invoice to the grantee seeking payment for costs. The expectation is that the grantee is paying the subaward prior to seeking reimbursement from EGLE.

  • If the land for the project is already owned by the subrecipient/partner, would that be considered “leveraging” from other sources for the purpose of compliance with the grant requirements?

    Land ownership can be considered a form of voluntary match or leverage. No match is required for by the Solar for Savings RFP. However, projects with additional match or leverage will be considered more favorably, as bonus points are provided for projects that deliver a lower percentage of state funds as a proportion of the total budget.

  • Regarding indirect costs: As a subrecipient, the subrecipient/partner cannot apply the indirect cost rate, but the recipient could. Would the rate be applied to all of the costs of the project, including the amount subawarded to the subrecipient/partner? For example, if the entire project cost including the subaward to the subrecipient/partner is $3,000,000 and the indirect cost rate is 10 percent, could the recipient apply an indirect cost of $300,000? Or could the recipient only apply the indirect cost rate to the non subaward costs?

    Applicants and their subrecipients may identify indirect charges as part of the proposed budgets. If a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) is available, that may be used. If funds are awarded, a copy of the NICRA will need to be submitted to EGLE.  If an applicant does not have a NICRA, a de minimis rate of 5 percent of direct costs may be used instead. U.S. EPA Solar for All Terms and Conditions advise the following for indirect costs: an indirect rate can be applied to total direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $50,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award). Indirect costs excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, Participant Support Costs, and the portion of each subaward in excess of $50,000.

  • We would like to submit letters of support with our application, but the application doesn’t support this. Is there a way to submit letters of support?

    If you want to send letters of support, please send them to the EGLE-MISFA@Michigan.gov with the applicant information (name and contact information), so that we can tie it back to the correct application. If the applicant is submitting several pilot applications for whatever reason, please provide project information so that we can tie it back to the correct application. Letters of support are not required.

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