The Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center at Grand Valley State University has partnered up with Chart House Energy, LLC, to build the largest non-utility solar project in West Michigan at Agritek Industries, a manufacturing company in Holland.

Chart House Energy is a company that’s focused on developing commercial scale solar installations. They’ve entered in agreement with Agritek, who will be installing a large solar collection array on their property as early as this fall or early next spring. It will generate 500kW of solar energy, which equates to roughly one-third of Agritek’s total annual power usage.

According to Arnold Boezaart, the director of MAREC, their role is to provide contacts for businesses and start-up companies to facilitate collaboration with various parties involved.

“We can also get a lot of exposure and visibility to help companies develop traction with their business activity,” he said. “And, we can provide a variety of support services to start-up companies, whether it be individual business consultations or connecting them with funding, resources or experts.

“There are a lot of small solar projects around West Michigan, but this one is much larger and aims at offsetting the regular energy expenses. As there continues to be an effort to increase reliance on solar energy, a project like this one really moves that effort forward and provides a great example of how business and industry can benefit.”

Robert Rafson, founder of Chart House Energy, believes this project is very important.

“This project will be the second largest non-utility project in Michigan and largest in West Michigan,” he said. “Presently, the investor owned utilities (Consumers Energy and DTE) have lobbied to limit the deployment of renewable energy projects in Michigan. Investor owned utilities across the country are fighting to limit or eliminate solar because it represents competition to their business model.”

Agritek started as an agricultural equipment manufacturing and has developed into a specialty metal manufacturing business. According to Rafson, they have an interest in going renewable for several reasons.

“On-site power generation provides hedge against power price fluctuations,” Rafson said. “This is a large risk for companies like Agritek that use a lot of power in their manufacturing processes. Lastly, and most importantly, this project is viable separate from their core business. Simply, it is a good investment and compares with any other investment they might make.”

Erik Nordman, a professor of natural resources management, said Michigan needs a clean, reliable electricity grid to power the 21
^st century.

“Last year, Governor Snyder convened a task force aimed at ‘readying Michigan to make good energy decisions.’ The task force found that Michigan could obtain up to 30 percent of its electricity by 2030 from clean, renewable energy sources without compromising cost or reliability,” he said. “There is still considerable skepticism among policymakers about renewable energy, including solar. Projects like the Chart House Energy collaboration with Agritek show that solar energy can work in Michigan and that solar has a key role to play in Michigan’s energy future.”

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