Are Solar Panels worth it in Ireland is a questions we hear a lot of people ask. Ireland is not known for its sunshine and in places like Southern Spain solar panels get over twice the solar irradiance as we do here.

How much do you need for it to be a worthwhile investment?

Most homes in Ireland you may be surprised to hear do receive enough solar energy. We get this in the form of light, it doesn’t need to be direct sunlight – to make it a worthwhile investment. A good financial return will be earned on your investment in solar panels.  This excludes the many environmental benefits solar panels also bring.

How much electricity will solar panels generate?

This heat map of Europe 000 shows how solar irradiation varies across the continent.

For those lucky enough to live in the south of Spain you can see that they enjoy nearly 2000 kWh/m2/year.

Here in Ireland, you it’s about half that amount, but the question is….

Is that enough?

If we Take a closer look at Ireland, we can see it is not an even picture all across the country. In the Sunny South East  you will be able to generate the most solar electricity per square meter, in some places generating over 1000 kWh/kWp in the year.

Remember 1 kWh costs about €0.20 retail in Ireland, so that would be a saving of €200 per kW installed (kWp means ‘peak’ – or maximum rated – output power).

A typical solar panel today is around 333W, in which case, 3 are required to have 1 kWp. Those 3 solar panels in parts of Wexford will generate over 1000 kWh in the year.

You’ll notice most of the country is a shade of yellow, so forecast to generate over 800 kWh/kWp/year. However, this varies and for example those same 3 solar PV panels in Athlone will generate around 850 kWh in a year.

To put that in context, the national average electricity consumption across all homes in Ireland, as reported by SEAI, is about 4200 kWh/year. So that means that 15 solar panels are required to generate a typical home’s needs for the year. With higher output 390W panels, only 12 panels are required.

How much money it shave off my bill?

12 high-output panels in Athlone will generate about 4200 kWh over the course of the year, as shown in the chart over.

Assuming a cost of €0.20 each, and you get to use most of them then that would represent  saving of €750 this year, and increasing with electricity prices hikes each year after that.

So, the longer answer to the question Are solar panels worth it in Ireland? is the same as the short answer: Yes.

Why not get in touch to find out what a solar PV system can do for you?

Just book in an online demo to have a system configured for your needs while you watch, or request a free quote.