Detroit Edison, an electric utility operating in southeast Michigan, is giving new life to some of its old solar panels.

The company installed a solar array in Scio Township, Michigan in 1997. It's retiring the panels used in that installation and replacing them with newer technology - but the retired panels are going to good use.

Detroit Edison said it's donating 120 panels and six power inverters to two community colleges, three renewable energy education organizations, a church and an orphanage in Haiti. At the colleges, the church and the education groups, the solar equipment will serve a teaching purpose; at the orphanage, it will help supply power.

The utility's donations illustrate the long-term benefits that solar power can provide. Solar equipment typically has a useful life of at least 20 years, so the panels that Detroit Edison is donating will still be able to produce clean energy. And by helping educate people about solar, the donations may have a positive effect that goes beyond reducing carbon emissions.

"This is a very rewarding part of retiring the solar equipment," DTE Energy vice president Trevor Lauer said.