SOLAR PANEL BUSINESS GRANTS: A GAME CHANGER

In early July, Minister for the Environment, Eamon Ryan, and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, announced a multi-million euro investment to support Irish business in making the transition to renewable energy. Beginning this month, the government will trial an expansion of the grants available to businesses for installation of solar PV. If the pilot scheme is successful, the enhanced solar panel business grants will become part of the Budget from 2024.

The fresh injection of funds – with some business owners able to claim as much as €162,000 back in grant money after installation – may be a game changer. In the race to meet Ireland’s climate change commitments, and guarantee our energy security in a volatile world, it’s a welcome show of commitment.

The new grants, like previous ones for domestic users, will be administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). They will cover a wide-range of businesses, community groups and public buildings – and will benefit everything from the local siopa, to GAA and rugby clubs, to large manufacturing plants.

Until now, non-domestic solar PV grants were capped at €2,400 for 6kWP. The SEAI has come up with a tiered system of supports that will encourage installation of solar PV arrays well above that current maximum size.

The updated grants will be as follows:

• Up to 6kWp will remain unchanged up to €2,400, with an additional:
• €300/kWp for each extra kWp installed between 7kWp -20kWp
• €200/kWp for each extra kWp installed between 21kWp- 200kWp
• €150/kWp for each extra kWp installed between 201kWp-1000kWp

This would mean that installations up to 1MW could be eligible for a grant of up to €162,600.

What do those kind of subsidies really mean for business consumers?

“This move,” Minister Ryan said, “shows strong cross-Government commitment to developing innovative solutions that can not only provide support to businesses to manage their energy costs but also empower those businesses to invest in an enduring solution which also reduces their carbon footprint and supports the local electricity grid.”

Consider, for example, the possibilities presented at the high end of the new grant system. It takes about 100,000 square feet of solar PV (that’s about 2,500 solar panels) to generate 1MW of electricity. That’s equivalent to the space on a large warehouse or factory rooftop.

Installing 1MW of solar PV is a large financial commitment – but a grant of €162,000 will make it a whole lot easier (and smarter) for businesses to do the right thing.

“I want businesses to see the opportunities renewable energy can provide in reducing costs, reducing carbon and increasing sustainability,” said Minister Coveney. “Businesses using renewables are more resilient to price volatility, and well-placed as we decarbonise our economy.”

In other words, the government hopes that grants that encourage more businesses to install solar PV will not only help those businesses to lower their own use of fossil fuels – but make those same business part of a growing network of “microgenerators” feeding the grid with cheap renewable solar energy for the rest of the country.

While the amount of electricity a business can feed back into the grid depends very much on the electricity needs of the business itself, a 1MW solar installation, for example, generates enough electricity to supply up to 1,000 homes. Any power fed back into the grid earns the business money – further defraying the costs of going solar.  

The new grant system, Coveney said, “underlines the Government’s commitment to help businesses save money on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint as they contribute positively to our national climate change targets.”

Businesses and community groups taking up the opportunity to go solar will reap the financial benefits from the new grants right away. They should also see rewards in the longer-term as environmentally-aware consumers reward enterprises taking the lead toward a fossil-free future with our “green” spending power.