Dr. John Upton:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak to it this evening on the topic of solar energy in the agriculture industry. Teagasc as an organisation is fully committed to embracing solar energy on its research facilities, including research farms, as well as on its advisory and education facilities. This commitment is enshrined in the Teagasc statement of strategy, specifically strategic goal No. 5, which aims "to constantly improve organisational excellence and efficiency". Deployment of a number of major solar photovoltaic installations, or PV for short, has already been carried out within Teagasc as part of its energy action plan, including the installation of a 250 kWp system on the Moorepark pig research facility, along with several smaller systems on advisory buildings and research farms.

On a national level, the Food Vision 2030 report sets the goal to develop a climate neutral agrifood system, so that by 2050 the climate impact of methane is reduced to zero and remaining agricultural emissions are balanced by removals; scale up renewable energy sources, especially anaerobic digestion, biorefining and biomass supply and solar PV; focus on energy efficiency; and examine potential barriers to the roll-out of renewable energy at farm level, including necessary support for microgeneration and access to the grid.

Similarly, the Ag Climatise report sets specific targets for energy use in agriculture in the nearer term, whereby a reduction in energy use by 20%, along with an additional target of meeting 20% of agricultural energy use by renewables, should be achieved by 2030. These goals are, in turn, adopted into the Food Vision 2030 report as interim goals.

We have considerable ground to cover between now and 2030 to achieve these targets, given that less than 2% of dairy farms currently have a solar PV system installed. Teagasc has been very active in the area of energy in agriculture for many years and launched its first dedicated publication on energy use in agriculture in 2011. Furthermore, Teagasc has compiled a suite of fact sheets on energy use and renewable energy generation covering all farm enterprises, which were updated recently.

Teagasc has also dedicated considerable research resources to dairy energy efficiency. An active energy research programme at Teagasc Moorepark is evaluating the impacts of deploying microgeneration and minigeneration solar PV systems on dairy farms. This research is built on a foundation of energy auditing and modelling that has been ongoing for more than ten years. Teagasc has developed a very high level of understanding of energy consumption trends, energy costs and associated electricity-related carbon emissions of the dairy sector through this work. This has been disseminated extensively through webinars, the Dairy Farm Infrastructure Workbook, the Dairy Farm Infrastructure Handbook and Teagasc open days as well as farm walks. Teagasc is seeking to expand its research capabilities in this area through building capabilities in the Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, VistaMilk 2 research centre, which is funded by Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to include an energy research cluster.

Furthermore, Teagasc has partnered with Munster Technological University and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, to deliver an online dairy energy optimisation platform to help farmers reduce their energy use and maximise solar energy use. The optimisation platform automatically identifies the best blend of energy efficient and renewable technologies, based on either economic or environmental criteria, on a farm-specific basis. The user is also provided with a simple payback period and carbon emissions offset resulting from the technology upgrade. This tool can also advise farmers on microscale solar PV sizing while providing carbon offsets and payback times for such investments. Teagasc has always encouraged an "efficiency first" approach to farm energy since renewable energy is not "free energy" as it comes with considerable upfront costs. Therefore, farm businesses should always be assessed for opportunities to improve efficiency before evaluating renewable options. This approach is also promoted in the Ag Climatise and Food Vision 2030 reports.

Opportunities for deployment of solar PV systems that are economically beneficial for farmers have been greatest where a significant part of the energy generated is consumed on the farm, for example, on dairy, pigs, poultry and horticulture, thereby offsetting expensive grid supplied electricity charges. In the absence of substantial on-farm demand for electricity or a significant export tariff, the payback periods can easily exceed ten years, resulting in low levels of interest in solar PV systems on some farms.

The only viable option for deploying solar PV for dairy farmers has been to follow the self-consumption microgeneration route as there has been an absence of an export tariff for electricity exported to the national grid. Additionally, planning permission is required for PV arrays in excess of 50 m². These aspects have limited the appetite for the installation of larger systems among farmers.

A typical solar PV installation on a 100-cow dairy farm comprises the installation of an 11 kWp solar PV array on the dairy shed roof - this size does

not require planning - which involves an investment of approximately €15,300. This size system will supply 30% of the farm's electricity needs from renewables and will pay for itself in around seven years at current electricity prices and without grant aid. This size system would offset 3 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

Going forward, with recent announcements on the advent of a microgeneration and minigeneration solar PV export tariff and potential easing of planning requirements in the near future, there should be renewed interest among farmers in adopting solar PV by allowing for up to 50 kWp systems on farms. However, some anomalies may remain in place, such as the inability of farmers to avail of the export tariff if they utilise their Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, grant to part-fund their solar PV system. These anomalies can create confusion among farmers and may inhibit mass levels of adoption.

The opportunities for solar deployment on farms are great, given that shed roofs are the ideal home for such systems and there is no shortage of space for these systems on a typical farm. Similarly, dairy farms that operate spring calving systems produce the majority of their milk during the summer months, and hence consume the most electricity during the months of highest solar electricity generation.

Development of solar energy generation in agriculture has the potential to have three major benefits for Ireland’s agriculture industry. First, enhanced energy security through the displacement of fossil fuels will bolster our national energy self-reliance through the consumption of locally generated renewable electricity in place of electricity generated from imported fossil fuels. For example, a conservative estimate of 200 GWh of electricity could be generated by dairy farms if they were to meet 50% of their electricity demand from renewable sources. The second benefit is related to farm diversification. Income generated from exporting excess electricity will provide additional income streams for farm families in rural Ireland and encourage parallel income streams from the farm. Third, renewable electricity generation is better for the environment and generation of electricity on farms will help contribute to our national efforts in the area. The potential of high levels of adoption of solar PV on dairy farms alone could save over 100,000 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year nationally if every dairy farmer installed 26 kWp of solar panels.

A prerequisite to the successful deployment of solar energy in agriculture is that it should be profitable and equitable across all farm types and stages of development, regardless of farming system deployed.

I thank the committee for the opportunity to present this information and I welcome any questions members may have.