Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 September 2022
99. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will make a grant available to householders who wish to purchase a solar SV battery storage system in order to store electricity which has been sourced by solar, wind or by night-rate electricity at off-peak times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44801/22]
View answerThe Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who administer Solar PV grants under the Microgeneration Support Scheme (MSS), undertook an assessment of continuing the previous battery grants under the MSS and found that with the current high cost of batteries, coupled with their low storage capabilities of only a few hours and their relatively short lifetime (currently in the region of 10 years); that a stand-alone battery grant did not represent efficient use of limited Exchequer funds.
The Government offers supports to deliver on the target of 1 million Electric Vehicles (EV) to be deployed by 2030. The battery in EVs is of a higher capacity than a typical domestic battery storage solution for micro-generation. In the future, it may be possible for EV batteries to be used to store excess micro-generated electricity during the day and provide electricity after daylight, and this could represent a better investment for the householder.
It should be noted that micro-generation installations including battery storage systems are still eligible for grant support but there is now no need to install a battery to avail of the maximum grant and, with the introduction of the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG), any residual renewable electricity not consumed on the premises is now eligible for an export payment which further supports the investment.
Further to the CEG I am aware that most suppliers have now published their CEG tariffs, which range from €13.5c/kWh up to €20c/kWh. While maximising the consumption of self-generated renewable electricity by matching electricity use against the peak generating times of your Solar PV system will provide the most benefit to offset rising electricity costs; the range of CEG tariffs allows customers to shop around and switch suppliers to obtain the best overall value.
