Frequently Asked Questions
We get a lot of the same questions from people about Solar Panels – so we have put the most frequent ones below.
Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, or require a quotation.
SEAI are currently offering Solar panel grants to fit Solar PV panels on your house.
The Grant is from €900 to €2100 for Solar PV installs.
Some Criteria’s must be met such as:
Your house must be built before February 2022 (when your ESB meter was installed)
You need to complete a BER (Building Energy Rating) Test post install.
There are no longer any subsidies for battery installs as of February 2022
There are many factors that will affect the cost of your install such as how many PV panels can be fitted, if you require a battery, etc. However, prices can start from €8000 euro before any Grant allowance is taken into account.
Solar PV Panels are very robust and durable, they can withstand most if not all-weather conditions. However, within the lifetime of your Panels the most common device failure is your inverter. This may need to be replaced in the PV Panels Lifetime. But your PV panels should continue to produce electricity for the next 25-35 years.
You will save money on your electricity bills. It all depends on how well you are maximizing the use of your panels such as using your washing machine on a sunny day or signing up to a utility tariff that suits you and your family best.
Yes, you can offset the cost of your electricity by selling power back to the energy company. You just need to set up a Microgeneration agreement with them. Check with your local energy company.
In ireland there is Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) and Support Scheme for Renewable Electricity (SSRE).
They typically pay a fraction of the retail cost back to you.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) state that average household electricity consumption in Ireland is approximately 4,200 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. This varies depending on factors like house-size, number of occupants etc..
We can make an assessment when we visit your site. For domestic, an average three-bedroom house will require a 10-panel array. If we take the average of 400 watts per panel, this gives you 4000 watts per panel – or 4 kWp.
Yes, you can install ground-based solar panels which are equally as effective!
Yes, we fit all types of chargers. the main one we offer is the Zappi Car charger by myenergi as it has app integration with a solar PV system (click link to our EV charger page). The Zappi is compatible with almost every EV as it offers both Type 1 and Type 2 Connectors.
- If you can’t install enough panels, this can make it longer to recoup your investment
- If you are living in a shaded spot, or can’t point the panels towards the south or west, this can lessen the amount of power you can generate
- If you are generating a lot of additional energy that you can’t sell back to the grid, to avoid wasting this energy you may need to purchase additional battery storage.
Well yes, although Ireland gets plenty of rain or overcast days. Your Solar PV system will generate power from solar radiance so even on an overcast day they will still produce electricity. On clear sky days or on longer summer days, your Solar PV system will produce more.
Your Solar PV system will be very low maintenance. The panels themselves have no moving parts and are extremely robust. Cleaning them every few years to keep performance to a maximum is recommended. Other than that, monitoring the performance of you Solar PV system regularly by checking on the invertor or on the app will give you a good idea of how well the system is performing.
Every house is different as is every budget. Many factors such as; roof size, orientation to sun, your electrical usage, are taken into consideration when we are designing your Solar PV system.
DAE Renewables will design a system that suits your roof space and your budget. We aim to maximize your solar generating possibilities by installing the system that best suits your needs.
Not with our standard installations, but solar panels can be made to work during a power-outage by using an extra piece of equipment. Please let us know your requirements!
Yes. Solar panels work in winter – and actually perform very well in cooler temperatures. The only limiting thing about winter is there are less hours of sunlight in the average day, but they can still produce a lot of power!
Yes, they work on a cloudy day, but they prefer to have bright sunlight directly shining on them. This is why we use the average days of sunlight when calculating the energy capacity of a solar panel system.