Boggs School Solar Installation Project in Detroit, MI
Flat Roof Mount Solar Panels & System Expansion
BUDGET
~$175,000 to $180,000
(combined across both installations)
PROJECT STATUS
First expansion August 2024
Additional 46.6 kW expansion in progress
SYSTEM SIZE
22.2 kW operating
(68.8 kW once the expansion is complete)
Project Overview
The James and Grace Lee Boggs School is a K-8 public charter school on Detroit’s east side, built around community engagement and hands-on learning. The school already had a small rooftop array when they first called us, and the question on the table was essentially: could the roof carry more, and could a working school host a construction project without disrupting class?
The answer turned out to be yes, to both. In 2024 we designed and installed a 10.2 kW addition alongside the school’s existing array, bringing the roof to 22.2 kW. That system was engineered, permitted, installed, and commissioned in-house, and it cleared inspection on a working school building without interrupting the academic calendar. The school then came back to us for a 46.6 kW expansion, roughly four and a half times the size of the first job, which is underway now and will take the roof to 68.8 kW.
Schools are among the hardest buildings in Michigan to put solar on, and not for structural reasons. The permitting path is different, the code standard is higher, and the review is stricter.
How the Roof Grew
2021
PRIOR INSTALLER
12 kW original array
The school’s first system was installed by another contractor: thirty 400W modules on flat roof ballast racking with a SolarEdge inverter, interconnected with DTE at 11.4 kW AC. We did not build this array, but every design decision we made afterward had to account for it.
2024
STRAWBERRY SOLAR
10.2 kW addition, bringing the roof to 22.2 kW
Thirty Q.Cells modules on Unirac ballasted racking, tied into a three-phase 208V service alongside the existing system. We sized the conduit for future growth during this build, which is the reason the next phase went in as smoothly as it did. Final electrical inspection was approved August 20, 2024.
CONTRACTED DECEMBER 2025
STRAWBERRY SOLAR
46.6 kW expansion, bringing the roof to 68.8 kW
Eighty Silfab 580W modules paired with Enphase IQ8P three-phase microinverters, more than four times the size of the previous phase. The school returned to the same team that had already proven the roof could carry the load and the permitting could be cleared.
Project Planning
Putting solar on an occupied school building is a different job from putting it on a warehouse or a vacant new construction build. The building is full of children five days a week, the roof has to be reached without crossing the play area, and the plan review happens at the state level rather than the city. Our team handled all three.
The 2024 design placed thirty modules on the flat EPDM roof at a 10 degree tilt and a 154 degree azimuth, tucked into the space left by the existing array while holding a four foot fire access path and a four foot perimeter clearance on every edge. Nothing bolts through the membrane. The engineering report puts the total attachment count at zero, which means the entire array is held down by ballast weight, with protective pads under every primary bay so the racking never bears directly on the roof surface. On a building where a roof leak closes a classroom, that becomes an extremely important consideration.
Zero mechanical attachments through the roof. The engineering report confirms a total attachment count of zero, meaning the array rests on ballast alone
Roof pads applied to every primary bay, the ratio Unirac requires for an EPDM membrane, so the racking never sits directly on the roof surface
Structural calculations sealed by a licensed engineer for 115 mph wind at Exposure B and a 22 psf roof snow load, with the ballast dead load carried by the existing framing
Permitted through the State of Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes, which holds jurisdiction over school buildings, in parallel with the City of Detroit permit
Cleared five separate state plan review comments and resubmitted with corrected construction type, documented building use, per sheet engineer seals, and recalculated fire clearances
Filed the DTE interconnection application and coordinated the addition against the school’s existing generation on the same meter
Sized the conduit during the 2024 build to carry a future expansion, which is what made the second phase straightforward
Why a school permit is not like a normal permit
Most Michigan solar permits are pulled through the local building department. School buildings are not. Jurisdiction sits with the State of Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes in Lansing, and the review is stricter. A school plan set gets held to standards a house doesn’t. Construction type classification, documented building use, fire clearances run against the International Fire Code, and an individual engineer’s seal on every single sheet rather than one on the cover page.
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Proposal & Design
All aspects of the system expansions were designed custom – specific to the school’s roof, electrical service, and whatever was already installed at the time. The school runs a three-phase 208V service, so every piece of equipment had to be rated for it, from the inverter down to the microinverters on the expansion. Equipment selection changed between the two phases because the right answer changed with the scale of the array.
2024 Installation
10.2 kW DC
PANELS
30 × Q.Cells Q.PEAK DUO BLK-G6 340W
120 half-cell all black modules, matched to the 10.2 kW nameplate at exactly 340W each
INVERTER
SolarEdge SE17.3K
Three-phase 208V commercial string inverter, matched to the school’s existing service
OPTIMIZERS
30 × SolarEdge P401
Module-level tracking, so one shaded panel does not drag down the row
RACKING
Unirac RM10 EVO ballasted
Zero mechanical attachments. The array is held by ballast weight alone, with no penetrations through the roof membrane
ARRAY GEOMETRY
10° tilt / 154° azimuth
Low tilt keeps wind uplift down on a flat roof while holding good winter capture
STRUCTURAL BASIS
Risk Category III
115 mph wind, Exposure B, 22 psf roof snow load, sealed by a licensed engineer
Expansion in Progress
46.6 kW DC
PANELS
80 × Silfab SIL-580-XMPLUS
580W modules, roughly 70 percent more output per panel than the 2024 array carries
MICROINVERTERS
80 × Enphase IQ8P-3P
One microinverter per module, three-phase, so a single failure never takes the array offline
WIRING
Enphase QD cables and connectors
Purpose-built three-phase trunk cabling across all 80 modules
RACKING
Unirac ballasted
Same non-penetrating approach proven on the roof in 2024
MONITORING
Enphase
Per panel visibility, which the school can use as teaching material as easily as maintenance data
WHY THE SWITCH
String to microinverters
At four times the array size, per module conversion removes the single point of failure a string inverter creates
Benefits & Impact
We’re proud of this project and feel that it shows value considering the school hired us twice. The roof carried 12 kW when we first walked it. The 2024 addition took it to 22.2 kW, and the expansion now underway will bring it to 68.8 kW, close to six times where it started.
5.7×
Roof capacity since 2021, from 12 kW to 68.8 kW (including the expansion currently in progress)
110
Modules added or planned by Strawberry Solar across two phases
0
Penetrations through the roof membrane
Both Strawberry contracts on this building carry a five year production guarantee, measured against the system’s own monitoring data, alongside a ten year workmanship warranty on the installation itself. That matters more for a school than it does for most buildings. A nonprofit budgeting years ahead needs to know what happens if the array underperforms, and the answer here is written into the contract rather than left to goodwill.
The 2024 phase also cleared its final electrical inspection nineteen days after the state issued the building permit, which is worth knowing if you have been told a school project means a year of waiting.
Tax-exempt organizations approach solar economics differently than businesses do, since the incentives that matter are not the ones a for-profit would use. Michigan schools, churches, and nonprofits have their own path, and it is worth understanding before you budget for a project.
The Solar Project Team
Will Held
Managing Partner
Tim Doherty
Operations Manager
Becky Beveridge
Project Coordinator
Thinking about solar for your school or nonprofit?
Free site assessment. No pressure. Detroit based team since 2010.