Solar by state
Solar in Michigan, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in Michigan, from federal 2024 data.
Michigan in brief
0.52% of Michigan homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 11th-lowest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 19.30¢/kWh, above the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 6.63 kW. DTE Electric Company serves 45.8% of homes.
Where does Michigan stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which Michigan sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
Michigan solar in numbers, 2024
Every Michigan figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | Michigan | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 0.52% | 3.55% | 11th-lowest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 23,456 | 5,077,543 | 25th-highest of 51 |
| Average system size | 6.63 kW | 6.74 kW | 14th-lowest of 51 |
| Residential price | 19.30¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 12th-highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $119.31 | $142.26 | 15th-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 7,419 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 9th-lowest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | 18.40% | 5.86% | 2nd-highest of 47 |
| Leased or on a PPA | 0.2% | 29.1% | 7th-lowest of 38 |
| Growth in systems, five years | 25.1% a year | — | 25th-highest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 482 | 297 (median state) | 19th-highest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 38.9% | 11.1% | 6th-highest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 155.4 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The Michigan ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves Michigan, and what does it charge?
The 8 largest utilities selling to Michigan homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTE Electric Company | Investor-owned; wires, 100% on its own supply | 2,067,779 (45.8%) | 20.13¢ | 610 kWh | 9,937 (0.48%) |
| Consumers Energy Company | Investor-owned | 1,657,843 (36.7%) | 19.11¢ | 628 kWh | 10,672 (0.64%) |
| Great Lakes Energy Co-op | Co-op | 120,645 (2.7%) | 19.17¢ | 611 kWh | 526 (0.44%) |
| Indiana Michigan Power Company | Investor-owned | 112,600 (2.5%) | 17.00¢ | 821 kWh | 576 (0.51%) |
| City of Lansing | Municipal | 87,301 (1.9%) | 19.78¢ | 514 kWh | 377 (0.43%) |
| Upper Peninsula Power Company | Investor-owned | 47,660 (1.1%) | 27.64¢ | 425 kWh | 266 (0.56%) |
| Cloverland Electric Co-op | Co-op | 36,086 (0.80%) | 14.37¢ | 648 kWh | 43 (0.12%) |
| Cherryland Electric Co-op | Co-op | 35,100 (0.78%) | 16.36¢ | 671 kWh | 171 (0.49%) |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 4,516,363 Michigan residential accounts. Each Michigan price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the Michigan utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 30 utilities serving homes in Michigan in 2024, across 4,516,363 residential accounts. The three largest, DTE Electric Company, Consumers Energy Company and Great Lakes Energy Co-op, served 85.2% of those homes. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 87.2%, electric cooperatives 6.3%, municipal utilities 4.6% and small utilities EIA counts as a group 1.8%.
All 4,516,363 Michigan residential accounts bought energy from the utility that delivers it; EIA counted only 21 on a competitive supplier. So a Michigan utility’s own tariff sets both the price you avoid and the credit for what you export.
DTE Electric Company, the largest, served 2,067,779 Michigan homes (45.8%). Its full-service residential customers paid 20.13¢ per kWh, above the Michigan average of 19.30¢, and used 610 kWh a month on average. 9,937 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 0.48% of its homes against 0.52% statewide.
Among the 24 Michigan utilities with at least 5,000 residential customers and a full-service price, the price ran from 10.12¢ at City of Zeeland to 27.64¢ at Upper Peninsula Power Company.
At the Michigan average of 7,419 kWh a year, that 17.52¢ gap is worth about $1,300 a year (our arithmetic), so the same system offsets more money in one territory than the other.
Price a quote on your own utility’s rate, not the 19.30¢ Michigan average.
Rooftop solar is concentrated: Consumers Energy Company alone accounts for 10,672 net-metered residential systems, about 45% of the 23,456 counted in Michigan, and 27 Michigan utilities reported any at all.
What does power cost in Michigan, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in Michigan averaged 19.30¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 12th-highest of 51 and above the national 16.48¢. Michigan sits in the top quarter on price, so power used on site replaces power bought at well above the national rate.
The average Michigan household bill was $119.31 a month ($1,432 a year), the 15th-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,432 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical Michigan home, before fixed monthly charges.
In Michigan, 38.9% of homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024.
On those rates the hour you use or export power changes its value, so ask for a proposal modeled on your own tariff.
96.8% of Michigan residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many Michigan homes have solar?
Michigan had 23,456 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 4,516,367 residential accounts: 0.52% of homes, the 11th-lowest of 51. Michigan is a thin market. Fewer companies can mean slower quotes and less to compare, so ask each one how many local systems it has installed.
The Michigan market counted 2,633 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 25.1% a year over five years, the 25th-highest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has Michigan solar changed since 2014?
Michigan counted 1,299 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 23,456 in 2024, 18.1 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 0.03% to 0.52%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2022, with 3,865 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1,299 | 0.03% | 6.1 kW | 14.46¢ |
| 2016 | 1,944 | 0.05% | 6.5 kW | 15.22¢ |
| 2018 | 4,342 | 0.10% | 6.0 kW | 15.45¢ |
| 2020 | 10,598 | 0.24% | 6.2 kW | 16.26¢ |
| 2022 | 17,237 | 0.39% | 6.5 kW | 17.86¢ |
| 2024 | 23,456 | 0.52% | 6.6 kW | 19.30¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. Michigan shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the Michigan trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the Michigan residential price went from 14.46¢ to 19.30¢ per kWh, up 33%, and the average system from 6.1 kW to 6.6 kW. A rate that has risen that far makes a 2024 bill a conservative base for a Michigan savings estimate only if the trend continues, which nobody can promise.
How big is a typical Michigan system?
The average Michigan system was 6.63 kW in 2024, the 14th-lowest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. Michigan homes used 7,419 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 9th-lowest of 51.
A Michigan home using 7,419 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in Michigan?
In Michigan, 0.2% of systems were third-party owned in 2024: leased, or on a power purchase agreement (PPA), rather than owned by the household. That is the 7th-lowest of 38, against 29.1% nationally.
Nearly every Michigan system is owned by the household. A lease or power purchase agreement would be unusual here, which is a reason to read one closely. Whoever owns a Michigan system claims any tax credit on it: Section 48E explained.
Do Michigan homes add batteries?
In Michigan, 18.40% of solar systems were paired with a battery in 2024 (4,316 systems), the 2nd-highest of 47. That is one of the highest attachment rates in the country, and 3.1 times the national share of 5.86%.
On reliability, the average Michigan customer went 482 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 161 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether a battery pays in Michigan turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
How do you check a solar company’s license in Michigan?
We checked 30 Michigan solar companies from June to August 2026 against the Michigan LARA Bureau of Construction Codes. 13.3% of those did not hold a current license when checked (4 expired).
Ask which license a company holds, then confirm the number with the issuing authority yourself.
These counts describe the companies we checked on those dates, not every company in Michigan, and a license current then may have lapsed since. How to verify a solar license.
Which states are closest to Michigan on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to Michigan’s 0.52% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the Michigan numbers come from?
The Michigan figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 23,456 net-metered residential systems counted against 4,516,367 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 30 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the Michigan row is in the data as a CSV.
No Michigan figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
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Do Michigan homeowners add batteries to solar?
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