By Paul McElwee
DONEGAL has one of the lowest rates of solar panel installation in the country, according to a new report.
Commissioned by EnergyEfficiency.ie, the report shows that Donegal properties have the third lowest number of installations per capita since the beginning of the year.
According to SEAI figures, 333 installations of solar panels took place in Donegal, representing only 20 (19.60) per 10,000 people.
Donegal is joined in the bottom five by fellow Ulster counties Cavan and Monaghan, Longford and Dublin.
In comparison, Meath has the highest rate in the country with 36.14 installations per 10,000 people, followed by Louth (35.52), Clare (34.93), Wexford (33.94) and Galway (33.83).
Michael Malone, Solar Energy Editor at EnergyEfficiency.ie offered some insight into the findings to the Donegal News.
He said: “To be honest, it is difficult to say why Donegal is so far down on the list. There could be any number of reasons why, one prominent reason could be the fact that Donegal gets less sunshine hours than other counties further down the country such as Wexford, which is in the top five for installations.
“The SEAI offers up to €2,100 for residential solar installations and up to €162,600 for non domestic installations and almost all households are eligible, with the vast majority of applicants getting the full, or close to the full, grant. For reference, the grant is set at €800 per kWp up to 2kWp, and then a further €250 per additional kWp up to the maximum grant amount of €2,100 at 4kWp. This means if a house needed or wanted eight panels (3.5kWp) would receive a grant of around €1,970.”
Asked what, if anything, could be done to persuade people to avail of the grant, Mr Malone said the government should “be doing more to publicise the grant”.
He said: “According to a survey conducted by the magazine last year, just over half of those asked (54 per cent) said that they were aware of the grant, leaving 46 per cent unaware. Last year the government scrapped VAT on solar panels, saving applicants €1,000. The same survey saw 80 per cent of those asked say that they would likely have solar panels installed on their homes in the future. This suggests that the government could and should be doing more to boost solar panel installation.”
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