Michigan Solar Renewable Energy Tax Impacts Calculator

Fill in the fields below with values relevant to your project. Default values are available for each county, city/township, and school district; these values have been compiled from state-by-state research. See the References page for more details. Hover over the information icons next to each field to learn more about individual inputs.

Please contact us by emailing empoweringcommunities@umich.edu with any questions, comments, or feedback.

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Project Location Information

Required

Project Details

All fields in this section are required. You may choose to use the defaults listed below, or override them with values relevant to your project.

Nameplate capacity of solar project (in megawatts):

Original cost of site improvements for new solar projects up to and including the inverter, including: solar modules, racks, tracking, on-site battery storage systems, controls, interver ($):

If you don't know the total cost of a particular project, it can be estimated by multiplying $1 million by the nameplate capacity in megawatts. If you are unsure about how the total project cost should be divided between these two categories, assume that 90% of the total cost is for site improvements up to and including the inverter.

Original cost of site improvements for new solar projects after the inverter, including: cables, substations, and other transmission and distribution infrastructure created by the solar project ($):

If you are unsure about how the total project cost should be divided between these two categories, assume that 10% is for site improvements after the inverter.

Expected useful economic life of project (years):

Note: This calculator can only calculate revenues up to 35 years.

Average annual inflation rate (%):

The default number (2.7%) represents the average annual inflation rate multiplier from 1995-2025 as calculated by the State Tax Commission. The default multiplier translates to a 2.7% average annual inflation rate. Users can override this default number and enter their own estimated average annual inflation rate multiplier if they prefer.

Annual discount rate (%):

The default discount rate of 3.0% comes from FEMP guidelines for analyzing renewable energy projects for federal agencies. Users can override this default rate and enter their own estimated discount rate if they prefer.

Real Property Calculation Details

All fields in this section are required. You may choose to use the defaults listed below, or override them with values relevant to your project.

Project acreage:

We assume a land acreage of 7 acres per mega-watt.

Pre-Solar Taxable Value:

Note that the taxable value of land in Michigan is typically an adjusted assessed value set by the government and is less than the true market value. We assume a hypothetical $4,285.70 / acre.

Was the real property previously covered by a principal residence or agricultural exemption?:

Is any of the following true about the real property?

It either is currently owned by the state or was sold by the state immediately prior to the installation of the solar project.
It is located in a U.S. Treasury Department-designated opportunity zone.
It was used or is currently used for commercial or industrial purposes, such that it qualifies as a "brownfield" property.
Improved real property used for another purpose if the qualified facility is attached to the improvement.

This determines which PILT rate would apply to the project.

Did the real property change ownership as a result of the solar project?

In most cases, but not always, the answer to this question will be "No" because the land under solar projects is typically leased.