Ireland Loves Solar!

More than 80% of people in Ireland view solar energy farms as a “good thing”. Almost as many of us think that we have too few large scale solar energy developments – and that finding even applies to people who live less than a kilometre away from such a development. That’s really good news for our growing Irish solar power industry. It’s also good news for Ireland’s future and the futures of our kids.

The use of home-grown renewable energy, instead of imported fossil fuels, not only minimizes Ireland’s carbon footprint, but will lead to long-term lower energy prices and will increase our energy security. The sun is a “tap” no one can turn off.

In its “Climate Action Plan 2023 ”, Ireland committed to generating 22 GW – more than 80% of its energy – ?from renewable sources by 2030. Those plans rely on solar contributing 8GW of power to the grid, alongside on-shore and off-shore wind and hydro.

The industry reached a milestone in late 2023 by hitting a benchmark of 1GW of installed Irish solar power . But some critics argue, we’ll need to do much more and better if we are to meet the 8GW target by the end of the decade.?

Currently only about 680 MW of Irish solar power comes from commercial generation, most of it from seven large-scale plants. The rest of the 1GW comes from what households with their own solar panels feed into the grid. ??

We’ve talked a lot about the steps the Irish government has taken to support the growth of domestic solar . Similarly, experts say government support remains “a principal driver of solar farm deployments in most of the world”.

The Future of Irish Solar

In Ireland, our Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) supports the growth of industrial wind, solar and hydro. Through an auction process, the government contracts to buy electricity at a guaranteed price for a set term.

RESS, and schemes like it around the world, help to minimize the economic risks faced by renewable energy technologies as they try to enter markets long dominated by established fossil fuel providers.

In a recent debate , Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan stressed the important role RESS has to play, saying: “The renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, has driven significant investment in solar energy in Ireland and has led to a major acceleration in the delivery of solar power to the grid over the past 24 months…Further auction rounds, including RESS 4 later this year, can be expected to see continued participation by solar.”

The RESS 4 auction process will begin later in the spring. By the time that process begins, the government and Eirgrid – who run the auction process – will hopefully have ironed out the problems that hindered earlier auctions.

“Industry should not be expected to gamble significant sums of money with no knowledge if their investment will be viable or not,” said Conal Bolger, CEO of the Irish Solar Energy Association [ISEA]. “The developer of any renewable project wants to ensure it is up and running as soon as possible. But the reality is that delays, at the hands of state institutions, make that challenging for many.”

Rolling out that 8GW of solar is a huge goal. The ISEA isn’t simply relying on RESS or other government supports to deliver the critical mass of solar needed to achieve it. They have also prepared a “Best Practice ” guide to help potential developers, local authorities, and community groups navigate the planning process, and make clear what a ‘good’ solar farm looks like and achieves.

By following best practice, and getting communities and local homeowners “on side”, solar farms can avoid the pitfalls that have sometimes plagued other kinds of development. Ireland has a high opinion of solar - let’s keep it that way!

The essential transition to a Net Zero energy economy lies before us. By tackling our commitment to build out solar from both ends of the market – industrial and domestic – we can get there.

Solar farms aside, recent research has shown the that over one million homes in Ireland have enough roof space to accommodate ten solar panels.

According to Minister Ryan: “If all suitable homes were to avail of this opportunity, it would produce 25% of all residential electricity demand (2.2TWh) and meet 8% of the country’s renewable targets. Additionally, it would prevent 135,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and households could save €450 per year on their annual electricity bills.”

Solar is the low-cost renewable to power Ireland. It’s also the low-cost renewable to power your home.