Solar Panel Costs and Returns Prices for solar panel installations in Ireland including payback period, electricity generated, carbon footprint reduction and more.
Last Updated: 14th April 2023
What do solar panels cost in 2023?
Typical PV solar installation prices at a glance. These calculations includes the 0% VAT rate on solar panels and installations, that will be effective from May 1st 2023.
| House Size | Cost (after SEAI grant) | Solar Array Size |
|---|---|---|
| 2-bed terraced house | €4236 | 3.28 kWp (8 x 410w panels) |
| 3-bed semi-detached | €4777 | 4.1 kWp (10 x 410w panels) |
| 4-bed detached house | €5354 | 4.92 kWp (12 x 410w panels) |
| 6-bed detached house | €6589 | 6.56 kWp (16 x 410w panels) |
(Click on the house links above or just scroll down to see full info about each house size)
These guide prices include both the equipment and installation. Adding a standard sized solar storage battery (5.1kWh) would add around €3,600 - €4,000 to the price. This includes the price of the hybrid inverter which is needed to work with the battery.
Lets start with a disclaimer - this is just a rough guide to help you decide if you'd like to have a discussion about installing solar PV panels on your house. Each property is unique, so if solar appeals then we would do a unique quote (for free) after visiting the property. That allows us to do a proper system design and calculate accurate numbers for you.
The numbers here though are realistic for average domestic solar panel installations in Ireland in 2023. We've not rounded down the prices, nor rounded up the production numbers. These represent average installations of household solar PV systems. We hope this helps you in the decision on whether to have that conversation about adding solar panels to your home.
Two-bedroom terraced house Typical solar costs and performance
Here are the solar costs and performance numbers for a typical two-bedroom mid-terrace house in the midlands of Ireland. We've assumed a property like this can fit a 3.28 kWp (kilowatts peak) system on its roof.
Cost to Homeowner: €4,237
That's made up of a solar PV system price of €6,421, less the SEAI grant of €2,184
Solar Array size: 3.28 kWp
That's 8 x 410w panels, totaling 16.96 m2, which covers the majority of the south facing roof.
Generation: 2856 kWh / year
The units of electricity generated per year.
Rate of Return on Investment: 34.6%
The rate of return on Investment (RRI) is 34.6%. The system will have paid for itself in 3 years 2 months.
CO2 saved: 994 kg / year
That's the same as 191 trees being planted, or 1 flight from Dublin to New York per year.
Download full example quote for a 2-bed mid terrace house
Use the buttons below to download the full details as a PDF.
Three-bedroom semi-detached house Typical solar costs and performance
Here are the solar costs and performance numbers for a typical three-bedroom semi-detached / end of terrace house in the midlands of Ireland. We've assumed a property like this can fit a 4.1 kWp (kilowatts peak) system on its roof.
Cost to Homeowner: €4,749
That's made up of a solar PV system price of €7,149, less the SEAI grant of €2,400
Solar Array size: 4.1 kWp
That's 10 x 410w panels, totaling 21.2 m2, which covers the majority of the south facing roof.
Generation: 3573 kWh / year
The units of electricity generated per year.
Rate of Return on Investment: 37.2%
The rate of return on Investment (RRI) is 37.2%. The system will have paid for itself in 3 years.
CO2 saved: 1,000 kg / year
That's the same as 239 trees being planted, or 1.08 flights from Dublin to New York per year.
Download full example quote for a 3-bed semi-detached house
Use the buttons below to download the full details as a PDF.
Four-bedroom stand-alone house Typical solar costs and performance
Here are the solar costs and performance numbers for a typical four-bedroom stand-alone house in the midlands of Ireland. We've assumed a property like this can fit a 4.92 kWp (kilowatts peak) system on its roof.
Cost to Homeowner: €5,354
That's made up of a solar PV system price of €7,754, less the SEAI grant of €2,400
Solar Array size: 4.92 kWp
That's 12 x 410w panels, totaling 25.44 m2, which covers the majority of the south facing roof.
Generation: 4520 kWh / year
The units of electricity generated per year.
Rate of Return on Investment: 31.5%
The rate of return on Investment (RRI) is 31.5%. The system will have paid for itself in 3 years, 6 months.
CO2 saved: 2000 kg / year
That's the same as 302 trees being planted, or 1.28 flights from Dublin to New York per year.
Download full example quote for a 4-bed stand-alone house
Use the buttons below to download the full details as a PDF.
Six-bedroom stand-alone house Typical solar costs and performance
Here are the solar costs and performance numbers for a typical six-bedroom stand-alone house in the midlands of Ireland. We've assumed a property like this can fit a 6.56 kWp (kilowatts peak) system on its roof.
Cost to Homeowner: €6,818
That's made up of a solar PV system price of €9,218, less the SEAI grant of €2,400
Solar Array size: 6.56 kWp
That's 16 x 410w panels, totaling 33.92 m2, which covers the majority of the south facing roof.
Generation: 5710 kWh / year
The units of electricity generated per year.
Rate of Return on Investment: 37.5%
The rate of return on Investment (RRI) is 37.5%. The system will have paid for itself in 2 years, 11 months.
CO2 saved: 2,000 kg / year
That's the same as 382 trees being planted, or 1.64 flights from Dublin to New York per year.
Download full example quote for a 6-bed stand-alone house
Use the buttons below to download the full details as a PDF.
The Battery Question
The headline numbers assume no battery. But they are a popular addition, and so for each house we have done the full reports both with and without a storage battery.
What does a Solar Storage Battery Cost?
A typical solar storage battery (which can store about 5.1kWh of power) will add around €3,600 - €4,000 to the cost of a PV solar panel installation.
We have done the full proper quotes above both with and without a battery, which shows how it affects things like payback and power usage.
Who would benefit from a battery?
If you are mostly away from home during the day, when your panels produce most of their electricity, then a battery can be a choice worth considering as it stores some of that power for when you return later on. If your home is normally occupied in the day time, then storage is less of a priority.
For all homes they really help smooth peaks and troughs. Solar produces nice steady power, whereas flick the kettle / turn on the oven then suddenly your house's electricity demand has just doubled for a short period of time.
Alternatives to a battery
There are also other ways to make use of excess power generated when you are not about - hot water diverters, overflow to EV car charging, feed in tariff back to the grid (where you sell your excess electricity to the grid) for example. Just get in touch if you'd like to chat through the options and pros and cons of each solution.
Recent changes
As things currently stand, for people who are often out during the week days, then a storage battery will more than pay for itself over the lifespan of the system despite increasing the initial outlay.
Feed-in tariff were implemented during 2022 in Ireland (see our page about Ireland's Solar Feed-in Tariffs for more info). All Irish utility companies have announced their solar feed-in tariff rates for 2022 and beyond which could alter the value benefit of batteries.
Want to know more about Solar Storage Batteries?
See our awesome Guide To Solar Storage Batteries in Ireland - Everything you need to know
How we did these calculations
We made some simple base assumptions for these calculations. Please do take the above figures just as a rough guide as there are a lot of assumptions we've made to generate these figures. These are all things we would customise for your home should you wish us to do you a solar PV installation quote.
Location: Midlands of Ireland
The location doesn't make a huge difference to solar output in Ireland, though we do take your exact location into account when doing custom quotes.
House and roof access: simple
We've assumed there's no complexity to accessing the property of roof.
Roof: South facing, average slope (~30°)
If your roof is facing south-east, or south-west, then the production would be about 5% lower. If you are facing east or west, then production would be about 20% lower. Please note though there are some benefits to east / west facing solar panels as their production matches standard consumption patterns - the panels generate in the morning and evening, when more electricity tends to be consumed, so you might not need a battery and might get to use more of your electricity produced. Just contact us if you'd like to discuss such.
We'd not recommend PV solar in Ireland if your roof faces north.
Shading: minimal
Shading, from surrounding obstacles such as trees in neighbouring properties, or large chimneys on your house, can impact solar production. We have assumed there is minimal shading for these numbers.
Electricity Consumption: standard
We have assumed an average level of electricity consumption. We've also assumed a fairly standard pattern, where there is only some usage during weekdays but the property is occupied most weekend days.
Hot-water diverter: none
Another use of excess electricity is to heat your hot water via an immersion heater. Again we've not included this, but if you opt for it you'll likely get better value from your solar electricity system.
Electricity Supplier and Tariff: Energia Urban Smart Meter
We have calculated using the Energia Urban Smart Meter tariff. This is a great rate for those with solar due to the high feed-in tariff payments they give you.
Feed-in tariff: Energia - 18 cents / kWh
Feed-in tariffs were implemented into Ireland in 2022. Officially they are called the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) tariff . This is where you get paid for any excess electricity that you export back out to the national grid.
Each electricity supplier sets their own rates, with SSE Airtricity (24 cents / kWh), Pinergy (21 cents / kWh) and Flogas (20 cents / kWh) being the best so far.
Find out more about Solar Feed-in Tariffs in Ireland (CEG tariff).
