The Lansing Board of Water and Light is kicking off the construction of what will become the second-largest utility project in Michigan.
The 24 megawatt solar array will be built in Delta Township south of Mount Hope Highway. That’s the power equivalent of 240 automobile engines but with no noxious gas emissions. It’s expected to supply enough electricity to power 33-hundred homes for a year.
BWL is building the project with Vermont-based GroSolar.
The array will be equipped with tracking panels that capture solar energy even on cloudy days.
“Even when it’s snowing,” says GroSolar marketing director Maribeth Sawchuk. “The panels will move slowly with the sun, which increases their generation efficiency by nearly 15 percent.”
The project is expected to create more than 150 temporary construction jobs.
It’s scheduled for completion by the summer of 2018.