Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
AN INDUSTRY INSIDER has claimed that current challenges facing those who want to avail of grants for solar panels have held back some businesses and farmers from applying in a recent interview with The Journal.
Pat Smith, the chair of the Micro-Renewable Energy Federation, said that securing funding to make the change to solar power is, at present, a “bureaucratic nightmare”.
While much of the renewable energy Ireland is planning to produce to meet its climate goals is to come from commercial wind and solar farms, smaller-scale generation on a local and individual level is also expected to play a role.
Home owners up and down the country have also opted to have solar panels installed, as a greener and cost-effective way of powering their homes.
The folks over at Bonkers.ie argue that solar panels are highly durable and a good long-term investment, as they will reduce your dependency on the fossil fuel sector, which is liable to price hikes and shortages.
Solar panels are also being designed in more aesthetically pleasing and innovative ways these days. For example in Pompeii architects have designed them to look like terracotta tiles so they don’t intrude on the historic look and feel of the place. Nifty.
So, with all that said and done, we want to know, Do you have solar panels, and would you consider getting them in the future? And if you have personally had trouble availing of the grant scheme, tell us about it in the comments.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Seen a quote for a 20 panel instal. 15k plus vat. The grant was in region of 2.5k. An awful long time before they start paying back
@Vinny Clare: Get an EV and you charge it free!
@Vinny Clare: are all quotes that price?
@Genera L Consensus: Yes. Even higher if you put more than minimum number of panels to handle hot water and one large appliance demand.
@Genera L Consensus: no, I’ve 18 panels, 6.8 kw with Eddie diverter to immersion, 10600€ and got 2400€ seai grant. Well impressed with them.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: I’m averaging 2k a year electricity with a heat pump. So say 6 years bills up front at 12k install it’s a long game saving.
@Vinny Clare: 7 years payback roughly and lifespan of 15/20 years. Costs are 100% tax deductible
@Vinny Clare: you do know they don’t work at night or dark overcast winter days
@Vinny Clare:
20 years
@Vinny Clare: at that price yes, its almost double what you should be paying. If you get panels at a good price they’re well worth it.
We got 7 panels with micro inverters for €3000 after the grant. The repayments are €24.98/month fixed for 10years. We generate 250-300kw/month from march-september, and 50-100kw/month from october-feb. At our current electricity price, last year we generated 2.08mw €461.55 worth of electricity and the payback was €299
@Don Hogan: you know nothing about solar if you think that.
@pkunzip doom2.zip: Ah another troll contributes nothing of value.
@Don Hogan: says the lad who obviously knows nothing about solar, it’s costs, benefits and spreads lies on here.
@Don Hogan: all you contributed is a lie.
I contributed real life figures that I can back up.
I can’t even afford a house….ffs!!
@Joanne Stokes: Get the panels first,
@Alan Biddulph: hahaha…
Too expensive for a Pensioner.
Couldn’t afford them even with a grant. To old to take out a loan.
Did get a quote….would take at least 12 years to get any return on my ROI….in my 60s so poor investment for me
@Kevin50: with a good quote you should have them completely paid back in 6-7years.
Have a look on boards.ie renewables thread for quotes/installer recommendations.
Every new house should have them and for me a pensioner i could never afford them and most of the contractors are charging a lot more than the price was 5 to 7 years ago
Not an option – renting.
Bought a brand new house in 2019 the PV ones came installed (no battery though— yet). Based on the cumulative info on the panel, we’ve saved about €1,200 on bills since we started using them. Better in my pocket than the utility company’s!
The extra tax on energy companies should be used as better seai grants
Both PV and ‘traditional’. All hot water provided from April to September.
@sean o’dhubhghaill:
What about October to March, are the benefits on a lower electric bill?
@Peter: Yep. Considering getting a 2nd battery.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: A few batteries are better for the winter months. Set up the controller to alternate battery usage. Gives the non-working batteries time to charge up from a reduced power source due to the dull weather etc.
@Peter: i found they cut electricity bill by about 40% in total plus a rebate for any additional electricity you send back to grid ( I don’t have a battery). Installed them 18 months ago and very glad I did.
@Peter: have a 10kw battery well worth it in winter time with day/night meter
To the 38% who voted ‘no and I won’t get them’, may I ask why not???
@sean o’dhubhghaill: A Liberal plot like EVs and cleaner air…
@Gavin Tobin: damn all this clean air
@sean o’dhubhghaill: the 38% is a large reason why I think the Green Party are awfully branded. People are just totally against anything environmental due to what they see as pointless costs. Should be called the sustainable party. Focus on the saving money part rather than penalising. You would get more done then. Win win.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: renting
@Gavin Tobin: Yea being green is very easy if you have the spare thousands lying around to invest in EVs and solar panels. For many people that haven’t a pot to p1ss in, these luxuries are a completely unrealistic expectation. My household has a relatively good salary coming in thankfully but it will be a good bit away before we can afford either as an option on our new build, and there is no grants available for new builds.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Cost does not justify installing panels which have about a 10 year payback. This is based on quote I received a few years ago. Nothing much has changed since then.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: I’ll be renting for life
@sean o’dhubhghaill: unaffordable
@sean o’dhubhghaill: almost 70 and can’t afford them
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Simply can’t afford them. I’d love to have them, and a EV, Bank will not give me a loan that large even though I’ve been earning a wage all my life.
@Don Hogan: Hi Don , price of electricity has jumped dramatically in the last 2 years ,payback is down to about 6 years now by my calculations . Problem now is getting a company to fit them there all very busy some have a waiting list of up to 8 months
@Trevor Donoghue: costs, the grants are way too low for most people to afford them. It can be years before the outlay is recouped in savings too, which is well and good if you are in a position to afford them in the first place, but not much of an incentive if you can’t.
@sean o’dhubhghaill:
Too expensive..
@sean o’dhubhghaill: Myself and my partner owe the credit union €20k each for home upgrades from buying second hand. When that money is cleared I’ll be looking to upgrade my 2005 car to a 2015ish or higher. My partner will upgrade his 2016 as well. No interest in electric cars and we can only fit a small amount of panels on our roof due to the design of the house so even if we wanted to get something it would never be the big enough system that you would need to make it work properly. I’d rather start investing in my savings / pension. We are both early 40s so savings is important now not bigger loans that’s the last thing we need.
@Fi Wyse: panels are getting more and more powerful, yes they’re not for everyone but we’ve 3 dormer windows in a tiny house and squashed 7panels in there, investment was minimal and return is great.
@sean o’dhubhghaill: at age 70 years, too expensive and will not get any benefit from them at this age
I simply cannot afford them.
I have them nearly a year now and the best investment I made. The lads at “Sun Arc Solar Systems” looked after it from start to finish for us, did all the paperwork with SEAI for us too, we just had to sign up to the SEAI at the start and they did the rest.
Bought a brand new house with solar panels in 2019. They have no battery and are virtually useless.
@Philip Thompson: thats like buying a cigar and not lighter.
@Philip Thompson: I’m sorry to tell you that you must be doing something wrong.
They’ll be providing power to all your baseload devices throughout daylight hours, you should time appliances like dishwashers and washing machines, you could divert excess power to heat hot water, although this is now uneconomical compared to sending power back to the grid as you get paid about 20c/kWh.
@Dave Connolly: you don’t need a battery to benefit from solar panels
@Philip Thompson: can you elaborate why?
We have had solar panels for the past four years and they are absolutely fantastic. We added 10kWh of batteries last year which are proving much better than expected. During the winter we charge them every night on the night rate tariff and that alone saves us about €70 a month. For 8 months a year if it’s sunny the panels can power the house, charge the house battery, top up our electric car and heat the immersion tank. Definitely a win/win.
Costs in the manufacture of panels outstrips their net gains, when calculations include the costs to the environment and humans, not simply energy in production alone. That’s before you even buy them, install them and then (after 15/20 year) chuck them into a pile of toxic landfill.
@Russian Bot: Wow, you really are a Russian bot! Of course everything you say is totally untrue, are you sure you aren’t Donald Trump?
@Russian Bot: you do know that solar panels are made of silicon (sand) and glass right? Not toxic waste. They pay for themselves environmentally within a couple of years. Economically they’re variable, depending on if you get ripped off by your installer. I got a system 5kWp system with a 2kWh battery a couple of years ago for under 5k. Couldn’t get it for 10k now I’d say. Shoes how badly we’re being ripped off.
@Joseph Blocks: I’m interested but can’t justify the current PV panel prices.
I’m waiting for prices to drop due to new technology or production techniques.
@John Murphy: unfortunately installers are using the grant system for their own benefit.
100% they work very well, 4 years with solar pv and my bill is in credit to the tune of €380.
Have a look at Solar PV Works in Ireland Facebook group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/555406669924225/?ref=share_group_link
@Barry Glynn:
I very much doubt that. Almost nobody has been paid fot their return to the grid as yet.
@Keith Rankin: I am -500 on my bill. Haven’t paid for power since October. And probably won’t until next winter. I get .18 per kWh of output. Exported nearly 2 MWh last year.
@Keith Rankin: lots of people have been paid recently, if you’ve and analogue meter it winds backwards so no need for payment :)
No. people living in apartment cant get them. as the person getting them needs to own the whole building
@Liam Mc Meel: something to bring up with the management company, apartment blocks should be using them to lower common area bills
@pkunzip doom2.zip: Of course they could, but in my experience management companies are quite negative about such savings. They’re in it to make money and don’t see the obvious benefits to residents.
Got 6 and would have liked to have got more but I have a big dormer in the way. I had some money in the bank that’s buying power was getting eaten away with inflation and with electricity prices increasing they have been a great investment.
I got quotes for 11.000 euro for mid Terrence house,silly money
@paul whelan: get a better quote, do some research on renewables thread on boards.ie
Add an option would like them but cant afford them.
€15 k quote, plus we would have to cut down mature oak tree.
I have the traditional cheaper hot water panels if they count in the poll. They cost far less than electric panels at the Time (10 years ago) & have never let me down or needed any servicing.
I want to get rid of oil central heating.Can I just put in electric radiator heating with no panels or heat pumps. I’m over 70.
@JG: yes but that won’t make economical sense, electric heating without heat pump and insulation upgrades will result in large bills, you’d probably be better off with a gas boiler or even a combi (water and heat) boiler. Shop around and you’d swap out the oil boiler with a combi boiler for as low as €6k
What is the official way to to about not getting the micro generation payment from energia does anyone know?
have your say