Detroit took a major step forward in clean energy Monday as Mayor Mike Duggan, DTE Energy and community leaders broke ground on the city's first solar field under the mayor's Solar Neighborhoods Initiative.

The project launched in the Van Dyke-Lynch neighborhood, where solar panels will soon cover a field that was once filled with blight and illegal activity.

"There was nothing but illegal dumping and illegal activity going on here about a year ago, and now it's going to power the city," Duggan said.

The solar field will generate 10 megawatts of clean, renewable energy. Duggan said the goal is simple: to lower energy costs and make Detroit neighborhoods better.

"This is going to power huge numbers of city buildings and the money that we're making from the electricity, we're using to im

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