Solar energy investors call on State to remove barriers 

“We are doing around 600 houses a week — it is probably more than that now — in photovoltaic (PV). Just to give a sense of the change, two or three years ago, there might have been a couple of thousand houses in the country that had PV panels on the roof. Last year it was 10,000.

“Now we are at 70,000. The solar revolution is only starting. That tax break that Paschal Donohue gave for people selling back electricity to the grid will help it jump up further. It is working, our Department is delivering. We’ve created the environment along with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to deliver for the Irish people better homes,” Mr Ryan said.

He pointed to schools, hospitals, and businesses as buildings that could benefit from the solar energy transformation.

“That solar revolution I am talking about, we need to really with it. Grants schemes help and support schemes help, for both homes and businesses,” he said.

It all sounds good in political soundbites and rhetoric but does that reflect how people in the solar industry see things?

Not quite — the budget was positive in some respects, but not nearly enough in many others, industry leaders say.

The Irish Solar Energy Association (ISEA) said that while Budget 2024 contains some welcome measures, the commitments to address climate change lack urgency.

Ultimately, they fail to deliver meaningful action, it said in a stinging critique of the so-called solar revolution so far.

Conall Bolger, CEO of ISEA, said: “The commitment to invest in climate change through a creation of the new €14bn Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund is to be welcomed. But the crisis we face is now, not in seven years from now, and there is a lack of clarity on how these investments will address today’s challenges.”

 To be fair, the ISEA has acknowledged that solar has had revolutionary momentum in Ireland in a relatively short time — it's just that so much more could be done if the mettle is grasped.

From 0% in 2022, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) statistics showed a day in May 2023 where solar provided 10% of the country’s electricity.

The ISEA pointed to ESB Networks recently stating that solar is “the fastest growing renewable power source in Ireland.”

 Calling the progress exciting, the ISEA said it has been predominantly down to two changes — the removal of barriers to rooftop solar, and a route to market emerging for utility-scale ground-mount solar.

Consumers are placing solar on their homes and businesses at an unprecedented rate. Domestic users are installing an average of 500 systems a week, while commercial players are installing not only kilowatt scale but megawatt scale, the ISEA says.

Complementing this rooftop growth has been the long-awaited flourishing of the substantial utility-scale pipeline developed by the solar industry, it adds.

A key enabler has been the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme auctions (RESS).

The growing confidence in solar’s potential was reflected by Government increasing the country’s solar PV target from 1.5-2.5GW by 2030, to 5GW by 2025 and 8GW by 2030.

Solar is not a fringe technology but a significant part of Ireland’s decarbonisation toolkit, alongside storage and wind, the ISEA says.

Mr Bolger said the ISEA did welcome Ireland’s continuing to support the microgeneration of solar energy through rooftop solar panels.

The tax disregard in respect of personal income earned by households that sell residual electricity from microgeneration back to the national grid will be doubled on January 1, while the 0% Vat rate for solar equipment is now extended to schools as well as homes.

Mr Bolger said: “This Government has done a lot to support homes to invest in rooftop solar panels. We welcome that this is continuing through the introduction of a new low-interest loan scheme and by doubling the tax disregard when a household sells excess solar electricity back onto the grid will increase the tangible benefits of homes investing in solar. In addition, the extension of the 0% Vat rate for solar equipment purchased by schools is a sensible measure that will assist schools in communities across the country to avail of the solar opportunity.” 

There is a growing demand from homes and businesses for solar panels, he said.

“Meeting this demand will require an increase in the number of trained tradespeople to carry out these installations, the new Craft Apprenticeship system, with funding of €67m, will support the faster rollout of rooftop solar panels.” 

So far, so good. What, then, are the sticking points?

Mr Bolger said he was severely critical of the failure to remove tax barriers that prevent farmers leasing land for solar developments.

“Central to Ireland’s decarbonisation plan is the government’s own stated ambition to develop 8GW of solar energy by 2030. This will require approximately 25,000 acres of solar farms within this decade and making this a reality will require the cooperation of farmers across the country.

“All farming families are conscious of tax exemptions to allow land to be passed on to the next generation without punitive tax bills. Inexplicably, this does not apply in instances where more than 50% of land is utilised by solar panels. We had expected the government to remove this arbitrary rule that punishes farmers who engage in renewables and is significantly reducing the availability of land for solar.” 

Mr Bolger also criticised the government’s continued reliance on electricity credits as short-sighted.

“Consumers have been paying too much for electricity for too long and while electricity credits provide an immediate support, they do nothing to fix the problem. A significant percentage of the electricity costs paid in Ireland are within the State’s control and they are not being addressed. These costs need to be scrutinised and our budget should be doing more to encourage the deployment of renewables faster than is currently the case.” According to the European electricity industry representative body, solar is overtaking fossil fuels across Europe.

With over 600GW of total installed solar capacity targeted by 2030, Europe’s electricity network must get ready to accommodate solar’s exponential growth and enable faster decarbonisation, Eurelectric warned.

Eurelectric said that today, Europe and the USA have around 1,000 GW of solar projects queued up to be plugged in.

However, it warned, connection delays caused by grid congestion and lengthy grid development permitting are driving up PV installation costs, putting solar’s competitive edge at risk. To avoid slowing down Europe’s energy transition, electricity networks must anticipate this solar-driven future, supported by adequate policies, it added.

“The energy system is changing fast, so we need a new, forward-looking approach when we modernise and expand our electricity grid. This means designing network plans with a stronger renewable focus that considers wider time horizons and zooms in on more granular low-voltage areas, where most PV connections take place,” said Eurelectric’s Secretary General Kristian Ruby.

Member states should ensure that grid planning becomes all-encompassing, acknowledging infrastructure build-out needs as well as grid digitalisation and flexibility deployment, according to Eurelectric.

Planning ahead requires investing and training the workforce in advance to bring programs to completion in a timely manner, while the European Commission can lead the way by incentivising anticipatory investments and identifying best practices with a new European Grid Action Plan, it said.