SOLAR SOLUTIONS FOR IRELAND’S HOUSING CRISIS
Updated April 16th, 2025
By Morgan Pierce
Let’s not look backward to move forward. Let’s look up.
It’s harder than ever at the moment not to be overwhelmed by what’s happening “across the pond”. This week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to expand the mining and use of what he calls “beautiful, clean coal” in the U.S.
Surrounded by hard-hatted coal workers, Trump criticised his political opponents for advocating programmes to retrain them for other industries.
“They wanna mine,” Trump said. “One thing I learned about the coal miners is that’s what they wanna do. You give them a penthouse on Fifth Avenue and a different kind of a job, and they’d be unhappy. They want to mine coal. That’s what they love to do.”
Trump has clearly never heard Mary Black’s heart wrenching lament for childhoods lost to the mines.
Schooldays over, come on then John
Time to be getting your pit boots on
On with your sack and your moleskin trousers
Time you were on your way
Time you were learning the pitman’s job
And earning a pitman’s pay.
For many of those “happy” miners, mining is a choice the way eating versus starving is a choice.
And Trump’s “beautiful, clean coal” is a fantasy. Coal is a fossil fuel that releases carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) when burned. In the human body, moreover, emissions from coal lead to respiratory illness, lung disease, neurological and developmental damage.
“Burning coal could never be technically considered clean regardless of the treatment applied to it before combustion – it will always emit the largest concentration of greenhouse gases of any fossil fuel, and soil and water pollution from coal and coal ash (what’s left after it’s burned) will never go away,” according to Michelle Solomon, senior policy analyst at Energy Innovation.
With almost every policy decision he makes, the American president seems to be trying to drag his country back to a mythical gilded age. Romanticizing the past is no way to surmount the challenges the world faces.
Here in Ireland, poll after poll makes clear that housing and the cost of living remain our biggest concerns. Week after week, press reports reflect Government’s failure to meet its own targets for new home building.
What can we, in the solar energy business, do to help address these twin crises? The answer does not lie, a la Trump, in going back to the old ways.
It seems to us that policies that embrace modular housing, particularly log cabin or other alternative builds, could be part of a sustainable solution. With rising construction costs, prefabricated homes lower the cost of labour and shorten the time required to complete construction. More log or modular homes could add significantly to our housing stock more rapidly than traditional construction can hope to meet.
Building with logs is also is energy efficient and produces a minimal carbon footprint. Those unfamiliar with log or timber-frame homes may not realize the benefits. When fully insulated, residential log buildings are suitable for year-round use. In fact, a well-insulated wooden building can mean lower heating bills.
And to complete the picture, homeowners can generate their own green energy with a solar solution.
A Log Cabin Home with a Solar Solution
SolarSmart wants to lead from the front in getting consumers to consider the possibilities of what a log cabin home and a solar solution can open up.
We recently installed a six-panel solar solution on a log cabin home built by www.mycabin.ie. (You can see how it looks and get details at their Blessington showroom.) Six panels generate about 2.7 kWp of electricity – enough to power a two-bedroom home or cabin. At a total cost of only €5,962 to the consumer, a solar solution looks a smart way of increasing the sustainability, affordability and green credentials of log-cabin style homes.
The team at MyCabin.ie have been in business since 2019 and have committed to making homes “built to withstand the diverse Irish climate”. Their builds all come with a ten-year structural guarantee. The buildings are constructed from slow-grown Scandinavian Pine, sourced with full FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification. For every tree they harvest, ten young saplings are planted.
Whether you are considering a cost-effective way of building your starter dream home or looking to expand the living space of your exiting home with a garden house or studio, the combination of a log-cabin build with solar solution is a winning, eco-friendly, low-cost alternative.
Let’s build the Ireland we all want, with housing for all. Let’s look forward with fresh ideas for home construction and “beautiful, clean solar”.
Why Choose Solar In Ireland?
Investing in a solar panel systems in Ireland can bring many benefits, including reduced energy bills, increased energy independence, and a reduced carbon footprint. If you are interested in installing a solar panel system in Ireland, it is also worth exploring the different grant options and green business loans available and seeking professional advice from one of our solar energy advisors.
Feel free to contact us for more information, we’re here to help.
