SerpApi.Org
When Bryan Schulte was approached three years ago by two companies looking to lease his land for solar development, he wanted to make sure he remained realistic about the possible projects.
"The first thing we looked at is realistically, what is it going to be after, or what could it be after?" Schulte said. "Everybody has their environmental concerns. We did a lot of research on that to make sure that there wasn't going to be an issue. If it wouldn't have been for that, we wouldn't have entered into an agreement. No amount of money would have talked me into doing something if it was going to hurt the land."
Only after doing what he felt was his due diligence in researching did he decided to sign a contract with Ranger Power for its 150-megawatt development in Rubicon Township.
Ranger Power, a utility-scale solar development company based in Chicago, is focused on bringing community-supported solar energy to states in the Midwest. Ranger Power has approximately 13 gigawatts of active projects ranging in capacity from 20 megawatts to 400 megawatts.
Pinesap Solar falls under Ranger Power's portfolio of renewable energy projects. Pinesap Solar applied for a special use permit in May to develop a 150-megawatt solar energy facility on about 1,157 fenced acres with 1,604 acres of participating land in Rubicon Township. The leased land totals 26 parcels of land owned by 18 private landowners.
Schulte has lived in Huron County all his life, having been born and raised just south of Harbor Beach. The Schultes originally purchased the land, just off of Rapson Road, from Detroit Edison and now farm corn, edible beans and sugar peas.
Schulte said that while the money and possibility of early retirement are enticing, he's mostly excited about the consistency the project will bring, something that isn't always guaranteed with agriculture.
"Yes, there's a financial gain for us here, but... it's being able to preserve the land and the family name longer than what it would be if we weren't to do this," he said. "We would have to liquidate the asset... in order for us to step out. That's probably the most exciting thing for us on that part of it."
Ranger Power has been assessing interest in the project since 2023, according to Development Manager Ella Hacket. She said landowners often choose to lease their land as an additional source of income.
"They've chosen, you know, that this is the best financial decision, as well as the best use of their land to provide additional stability and a diverse income to their family," Hacket said. "A lot of times this allows local landowners to remain in control of their land."
Construction for the project is expected to begin in 2028, with operations beginning at the end of 2030, according to the Pinesap Solar application narrative.
Utility-scale solar development has been a topic of controversy for over five years, with tensions only rising in recent months. Six out of seven county commissioners have had recall petitions filed against them for their votes to approve a solar zoning ordinance allowing 15,000 acres of industrial-scale solar facilities in the 15 county-zoned townships, including Rubicon. One commissioner resigned from the board, citing a "political climate where a certain group of people are angry, hateful, and extremely judgmental."
Schulte said that he understands and respects what residents are trying to accomplish with the recalls but finds it "disheartening to watch neighbor (fight) against neighbor."
"It is their right to do that as a U.S. citizen and a member of Michigan's, you know, resident. I don't argue with any of that, but at the end of the day... they're fighting in the wrong area," Schulte said. "This law was passed in 2023 by the state Legislature and signed by the governor. The local branches of government don't have a lot of say in it."
Public Act 233, which was passed in 2023 and took effect in 2024, shifted authority over utility-scale solar facilities from local municipalities to the Michigan Public Service Commission. This gives the MPSC control over solar projects in an area unless a local government has a zoning ordinance in place.
"That's a kind of a big deal and a really big misunderstanding right now," Schulte added. "I feel it's (about) understanding where your fighting power and the government is, and your fight in government on this was in 2023 in Lansing, not at the county commissioner's office."
Despite public backlash, Schulte said he hasn't experienced any personal backlash from residents. However, he added, he's not "waving a big flag" advertising himself as a solar development leaser.
"One of the reasons you don't hear more people positively speak out right now is because there's a lot of noise about how this is bad for the environment, bad for the community," Schulte said. "A lot of it is more of a 'I don't want to look at it.' It's not destruction of agricultural land; it's a different use."
Residents have brought up multiple concerns surrounding solar facility development, including the damage solar panels could do if a storm or tornado makes its way through the county. Schulte said that if a tornado does pass through Huron County, there will be "a bigger problem in this community than a few pieces of broken glass."
"We're going to have emergency services that are going to be taxed out. We'll be blacked out, power outages. I mean, (solar panels) will be the least of concerns. It'll be our neighbors' well-being will be more important than whether this happened," Schulte added. "If it happened at a big power plant and it got tore down, what would be the environmental impact of that? Energy is dirty. It doesn't really matter how it's made."
The solar panels used in the Pinesap Solar project will be made of N-type solar cells, higher efficiency photovoltaic cells used to generate electricity directly from sunlight. Solar panels used P-type cells for years, but the amount of boron in the cells often leads to light-induced degradation, reducing performance over time by up to 10% according to Solar Magazine. N-type cells use phosphorus instead of boron, making it immune to light-induced degradation and improving efficiency.
"(The panels) are extremely sealed. Inside the panel, every component, it's like an LED light," Schulte said. "Best way I can understand it, it has a whole bunch of little bulbs. Inside the panel is a whole bunch of little generator, power generation type things. I don't understand all of them, but that each one of those individual units is extremely sealed and protected. There's no liquid in them; they're all dry. You know, so that gave us peace of mind."
The project has an approximately 40-year life span according to the decommission plan. At the end of the project, the land used will be "reclaimed and restored" within 180 days, including removal of project infrastructure, restoration of the landscape, cleanup of all debris, and filling and compaction of all trenches and other borings or excavations.
"(The land) has to be restored back to its state that it is today. For an example, there will be service roads put in. They'll have to take those out," Schulte said. "Our agreement states that they have to leave any dirt that is here that they move on site. They're not allowed to haul any of the ground away, and they have to remove the material that the road is on and put the dirt back where it came from so it can be turned back into its current state."
Having a well-thought-out decommissioning plan was a priority for Schulte, who always intended for the land to go back to productive farmland after the project, even if he won't be the person farming it.
"I'm probably gonna be pretty gray," Schulte said. "I might be done by then."
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Policy for Allowing Commercial Solar Panel Development on PA 116 Lands aims to allow solar development on lands enrolled in the Farmland Development Rights Program, while also preserving agricultural farmland for future use. According to the policy, utility-scale solar energy facilities must have a pollinator habitat area to "allow for replanting when the usable life of the pollinator habitat expires."
Seeding of these pollinator habitat areas will occur after construction, according to the Pinesap Solar application narrative, and will allow the land used to become "fallow, optimizing soil health and creating the conditions to allow productive farmland to return to traditional agricultural use." The areas will also help to decrease erosion, increase storm water control and increase biodiversity in the area.
The Pinesap Solar permit is still in the process of being reviewed, despite the county's three-month moratorium on solar and battery permits. The county is still working to finalize a contract with McKenna Associates Inc., the consulting company hired to update the county’s master plan and zoning ordinance, so it can begin it's review the permit application.
The county's planning commission has made efforts to amend the current zoning ordinance, including approving a proposed amendment to lower the acreage cap from 15,000 to 9,000 acres. Planning, Building and Zoning Director Jeff Smith has said that, until approved by the Board of Commissioners, those amendments do not affect the Ranger Power permit because the county has a zoning ordinance in effect.
"We have an ordinance on the books from last July, we have to honor our ordinance," Smith said. "Ranger Power has indicated they're willing to work with the county, and if the county amends the ordinance, they'll consider updating their plan."
Ranger Power launched the Pinesap Solar Community Impact Fund through the Huron County Community Foundation in May. The fund will be used to support Rubicon Township, the village of Port Hope and the city of Harbor Beach. In April, the fund donated $2,500 to the Harbor Beach Community School District’s Pirate Fund.
"Ranger Group, this Pinesap project, they care about the community. I know that's not how they're perceived, but they do care about the community," Schulte said. "They don't want to come in here and disrupt things. There's a reason why they do scholarship funds and things along those lines, and they get called out for it as it's blood money."
Schulte emphasized that solar development and his decision to lease for solar didn't happen overnight, adding that he was first approached with offers in late 2022.
"This wasn't some decision that we just made overnight, and it wasn't just because we seen dollar signs. There was a lot of thought and effort and time on this, for us to go into this. I mean, I feel that was what matters," Schulte said. "When you hear the stories of 'Oh, the developer went bankrupt and the guy didn't get paid,' well, did somebody do their diligence? Did they have somebody look at the contract? Did they just see money and got excited and immediately signed? You know, it's your responsibility to look out for yourself, not trust a developer's word for it."
