Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
133. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the projected spend by the SEAI in 2023 on the solar electricity grant; how much was budgeted for this scheme in 2023; the spend in 2022; how many projects were supported; how much is expected to be available in 2024; how many installations are projected in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36884/23]
View answer134. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the projected cost of increasing the SEAI solar grant to a maximum of €4,800, or €5,000, and doubling the number of installations; if any analysis has been carried out on the capacity to cap the grant for those earning up to a specific income point; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36885/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 134 together.
The Solar PV grant under the Micro-generation Support Scheme (MSS) is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and is open to houses built prior to 2021. The scheme came into operation in February 2022 and built on the success of the previous pilot version of the grant scheme.
Since 2018, the SEAI has supported the installation of domestic Solar PV systems for almost 27,800 homes, with demand for the domestic Solar PV grant increasing significantly throughout 2022. In 2022, the SEAI received 16,819 applications to the Domestic Solar PV programme, which resulted in grant support for 10,017 homes, at a cost of €24.4m and a total installed capacity of 46.5 MW. This indicates an average installation size of 4.6kW. This is a substantial increase on the numbers from 2021 when 4,077 homes were supported, and 16.3 MW installed.
The MSS was allocated €29.4m in Budget 2023 and as of the end of June, 8,889 applications have been supported. With such continued strong levels of demand seen since the start of this year, in conjunction with Government's decision to reduce the rate of VAT on the supply and installation of solar panels to 0%, it is expected that application levels will exceed initial projections. Eligibility is not related to income thresholds, to ensure the broadest possible dispersal of grant supports.
Projected expenditure for 2024 cannot be confirmed until later in 2023. The MSS is also currently undergoing a planned review, in order to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the scheme for the next number of years.
Based on the 2023 figures to date, the average grant is currently amounting to approximately €2,340, with the average system size installed being approximately 5 kWp.
If the maximum available grants were doubled from €2,400 to €4,800, and using the projected application numbers for 2023 as assumed take up, it is estimated that the scheme costs would increase by approximately €50m in 2023. Of course if the number of applicant varied in response to the doubling of the grant, the cost would also vary.
Given the scheme is a demand lead scheme, the number of applications and cost will always ultimately be determined by the normal market forces of consumer demand and the available supply chain response.
