Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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49. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number and total value of solar photovoltaic grants provided in 2022; the average grant provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25059/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Microgeneration Support Scheme (MSS) was approved by Government on 21 December 2021, to support Ireland’s ambitious targets for micro-generation installations, under the Climate Action Plan. The MSS provides supports to both domestic and non-domestic applicants, in the form of grants for Solar Photovoltaic installations, which are available through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), up to a maximum of €2,400.

In 2022, the SEAI received 16,819 applications to the Domestic Solar PV programme under this scheme, which resulted in grant support for 10,018 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 huge increase on the numbers from 2021 when 4,077 homes were supported, and 16.3 MW installed.

Prior to the MSS, the SEAI had been operating a pilot Solar PV grant scheme since 2018 and to date have received over 34,000 applications, supporting over 19,000 homes during this time.

Up to the end of April this year, the SEAI have had 6,429 applications for the Domestic solar PV scheme and have already supported 5,443 homes with 26.86 MW installed.