Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Micro-generation Support Scheme (MSS) provides capital grants through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) for solar PV installations. Micro-generation has an important role in creating opportunities for homes, schools, community groups and small commercial customers to take the first steps towards investment in renewable technologies, by generating and consuming their own electricity. Grants are currently available to households to a maximum value of €2,100.

The eligibility criteria for the Domestic Solar PV scheme are based on the MSS high level design approved by Government in December 2021, with the Final scheme Design published in 2022. Grants are administered by the SEAI and are available to houses built and occupied 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. As part of the transition between schemes, the minimum BER C3 requirement was removed and the eligibility of the homes was changed from those built prior to 2011, to those built prior to 2021.

Houses built and occupied from 2021 enjoy greater levels of energy efficiency as they must comply with Part L of the Building Regulations, which relates to the energy performance of buildings requirements. There are options to meet this requirement under the standard by including heat pumps and/or solar PV during construction, which may reduce installation costs.

Targeting the grant scheme at older homes, maximizes emissions reductions and delivers energy savings for the widest range of homeowners possible, whilst also making the most efficient use of limited exchequer funding for the scheme. There are no plans to change the building year requirement at this stage but grant eligibility will be kept under review, and changes to the scheme will be made when necessary.