What does it cost to put solar panels on a Michigan house, and what should the quote say?

No federal credit in 2026, and what that does to a quote

The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit was 30 percent of the cost of property installed 2022 through December 31, 2025. It adds that the credit "is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025." Paying a deposit in 2025 doesn't change that, because the IRS treats the expense as made when the original installation is completed. A system finished in 2026 gets no federal credit, so the price on the contract is the price you pay.

That leaves two things deciding whether solar pays back for you: how your utility credits the power you send out, and your own roof. This page prints no payback or yearly savings figure. When a quote does, ask which utility rate and which production tool sit behind it, and get both answers in writing.

What solar costs in Michigan: a model, and the anchors we can cite

Our estimate is $16,900 to $23,400 for a typical 7 kW rooftop system, before any incentive, or $2,400 to $3,325 per kilowatt (1,000 watts) of panels installed, before any incentive. It's a model, not a quote, and a company's price will differ. The model is built from two published national ranges, scaled by what Michigan solar installers are paid against the US mean, with a typical city electrical permit fee added but no building permit. The per kilowatt figure is built the same way, from two published national ranges scaled by the same wage ratio, with no permit fee added.

No federal credit applies to a system installed in 2026, so nothing is taken off. The table prints cited price anchors beside the estimate; they aren't model inputs, and we don't reconcile them with it. On a real quote, compare the total with financing, the kW DC and the cost per watt.

How we estimate costs: the Estimated range row comes out of a model, so treat it as a planning figure and never as a quote. It takes 2 published national ranges for this job (cost guides from third-party sites that we haven't verified and don't cite) and multiplies them by Michigan's solar installer wage ratio to the US (0.87, BLS May 2025) and adds a typical permit fee ($94). The range is before any incentive: the federal residential clean energy credit does not apply to systems installed after December 31, 2025. The wage and permit rows are what installers are paid and what the city charges, and neither is a price. We have not collected quotes, and too few Michigan installers publish prices to show a range. Full method. Prices as of Oct 23, 2026.

How DTE and Consumers Energy credit what you send out

New Michigan customers join the distributed generation program, not retail net metering. Public Act 235 of 2023, in effect since February 27, 2024, raised the program cap from 1 percent to 10 percent of a utility's average five-year in-state peak load. At least half of that cap is reserved for systems under 20 kW. The program runs up to 550 kW, a system can be sized to 110 percent of your prior 12 months of use, and the MPSC approved each utility's updated tariff on March 13, 2025.

Under DTE's Rider 18, power you draw is charged at the retail rate and power you send out is credited at the power supply rate, which DTE says includes PSCR. That credit can offset every electric charge except securitization charges. Excess goes into an Excess Generation Bank, where DTE says credits "do not expire and cannot be withdrawn or transferred," and the first Rider 18 bill takes one to two billing cycles to arrive.

Consumers Energy also credits excess at the power supply rate, including transmission, on a single meter, and it has applied those credits to all electric charges since February 27, 2024. DTE's letter and Consumers' program page don't print either credit in cents per kWh, so ask the utility for its current rate sheet before you trust a savings claim on a quote.

Your bills, your roof and how big a system fits

Start with the bills. Both utilities cap a system at 110 percent of your prior 12 months of use, so a year of statements sets the ceiling before any company measures the roof. The MPSC puts rooftop panels at about 100 square feet of roof per kW.

Two production figures turn up in Michigan, and they answer different questions. DTE's sizing formula counts each kW of DC panels as about 1,116 kWh a year when it checks the 110 percent limit, and that's DTE's convention, not a production forecast. Our run of NREL's PVWatts calculator (a south-facing roof at 30 degrees, 14 percent losses) gives about 1,300 to 1,324 kWh per kW a year across Grand Rapids, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor and Detroit. A small share of that comes in the winter months. Keep the two apart, and ask which one, or which other tool, a quote's production estimate uses.

If your roof will need replacing during the system's life, settle that first. Taking panels off and putting them back is its own cost, covered on the panel removal and reinstall page, and the roof age guide explains the order of work.

Heavy shade is the other reason to wait. The PVWatts figures above assume an open south-facing roof, and the tool's notes say shading, pitch and orientation change the result, so get a production estimate for your own roof before you compare prices.

What a Michigan quote should show

Most installers publish no price, so the quote is the price. The MPSC's consumer tips say to get at least three bids, and to ask how long each company has been in business, whether it holds a license and carries insurance, and for three customer references. Then ask for these in writing before you sign:

1. The total price, including all financing costs and dealer fees.
2. System size in kW DC and estimated annual production, with the tool named.
3. Cost per watt before any incentive.
4. Panel and inverter make and model.
5. Who files the utility application and who pulls the permit.
6. The company's Michigan electrical contractor license number.
7. Warranties on the equipment and on the roof penetrations, plus start and completion dates.
8. Whether it's a purchase, loan, lease or PPA, and for a lease or PPA, whether the contract can transfer to a buyer of your home.

Pitches to walk away from

Michigan's Attorney General sued Climax Solar, its owner and its financing companies on July 15, 2026. The Attorney General alleges hidden dealer fees of more than $22 million, averaging more than 27 percent of the amount financed, across about 1,700 Michigan consumers and about $81 million in financed deals. It also alleges that money was released before systems were finished or approved by the utility. Those are allegations, not findings. They still tell you what to get in writing: the total financed price with every fee listed, and a payment schedule tied to a finished, utility-approved system.

EGLE says it isn't aware of any state or federal program that installs solar at no cost. Consumers Energy tells customers to avoid anyone who promises "you will not receive an electric bill," claims you can be independent of the grid, or offers solar "with no upfront cost." Even a customer with a perfect system still pays fixed charges, Consumers says. Its page adds that it doesn't endorse, certify or recommend renewable contractors. If a pitch sounds like these, report it to the Attorney General at 517-335-7622 or MIAG@Michigan.gov.

Rebates, financing and the property tax rule

Lansing Board of Water & Light lists a rebate of $500 per kW up to $2,000 (a 4 kW system) for BWL customers only. It pays against a signed application, the invoice and the equipment spec sheets, with up to four weeks for the check. The page carries no date and doesn't say how much funding is left, so confirm with BWL that it's open before the rebate goes into your numbers.

EGLE's MI Solar Access Program sounds like a rebate, but it's a request for proposals from organizations, not money for a homeowner. Michigan Saves is a nonprofit green bank, and the MPSC says financing through it needs a Michigan Saves solar contractor, so ask whether the company quoting you is one before you plan on that loan.

Your property tax bill doesn't rise with the panels while you own the house. Under MCL 211.27(2)(p), as the State Tax Commission's Bulletin 6 of 2020 explains, a residential PV system of up to 150 kW whose output doesn't exceed your annual use isn't counted as added value until the home is sold. After a sale the assessor may add it, which the solar and home sale guide covers.

When to call 911 and when it can wait

What to do before you ask for quotes

1. Pull 12 months of electric bills: the utility sizes to 110 percent of that use.
2. Get at least three bids, as the MPSC suggests.
3. Ask each company for its electrical contractor license number and look it up with LARA.
4. Ask for the list above in writing, as the quote guide explains.

Electrical contractor license and permit

Electrical contracting in Michigan takes an electrical contractor license under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act, 2016 PA 407, Article 7 (MCL 339.5737(1)). The law's definition of electrical wiring covers generating equipment, so ask the installing company for its electrical contractor license number and look it up with LARA. Detroit issues its own licenses locally.

The permit is pulled under that contractor's state license number. Homeowners doing their own work in an owner-occupied single-family home are exempt from the license, not from the permit or the utility. The interconnection and permits page covers the city and utility steps.

Ask for the company's contractor license number and look it up with your state's licensing board before you sign.

Questions people ask

Keep reading

Guides

• The federal solar tax credit in 2026: what the IRS says and what it means for a quote
• Net metering, distributed generation and net billing: how each state credits the power you send out
• Solar quotes: what to compare, and what to get in writing, before you sign
• How to check a Michigan electrical contractor license before a solar company touches your roof

Solar panel installation by city

• Detroit
• Grand Rapids
• Warren
• Sterling Heights
• Ann Arbor
• Lansing
• Dearborn
• Livonia
• Westland
• Wyoming
• Kalamazoo
• Taylor
• Royal Oak
• Battle Creek
• East Lansing

Related services

• Solar battery storage
• Interconnection and permits
• Ground-mount solar
• Panel removal and reinstall

Michigan licensing, code and permit facts · How to check a solar installer's license · Report a wrong price or rule