Ann Arbor's Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) is preparing to expand its solar program city-wide after a successful pilot in the Bryant neighborhood. The SEU owns and installs solar panels on homes, charging residents a monthly fee instead of requiring upfront costs. The pilot enrolled about a third of homeowners, with projected average annual savings of $200 per household, plus benefits like outage protection and home energy upgrades. The expansion faces headwinds: the federal residential clean energy credit was repealed after 2025, and new tariffs on polysilicon are expected to raise equipment costs by 30-40%. The SEU also plans to finance future projects through bonds, making borrowing rates critical. The city will use lessons from the pilot to refine its rate structure and scale up by 2027, aiming to meet its 2030 carbon neutrality goal.
