Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has confirmed that grant aid for 60% of the cost of rooftop solar technology will be available in 2022, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
IFA environment chairperson Paul O’Brien said that the grant aid, under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS), would be available to all farmers in 2022.
“Rooftop solar on farm buildings offers significant potential to mitigate farm emissions; helps Ireland reach renewable energy targets; and improves the resilience of farm businesses against rising energy costs,” O’Brien said.
According to O’Brien, the confirmation of 60% grant aid by the minister “will make solar installations more viable on farms and overcome the high initial installation costs”.
However, the IFA environment chair argued that “the funding must be additional to the current funding allocated under TAMS and should not be restricted by the €80,000 limit”.
The IFA says that, according to research carried out on its behalf, a capital grant of 60% is required to make rooftop solar panels viable for farmers, regardless of their sector, size or geography.
“There are significant limitations under TAMS to support adoption of solar on farms,” according to O’Brien.
“This includes the maximum size of PV [photovoltaic] panels eligible for grant aid at 11kW, and that fact the electricity generated must be used on the farm. It is also not permitted to use or export the electricity generated for domestic, commercial or non-farming use.
“If Ireland is committed to meet the carbon reduction targets for electricity of 62% to 81% as set out in Climate Action Plan, a new scheme must be introduced that supports farmers to install solar PV, which optimises the renewable energy that can be produced on farm buildings,” he added.
“This should also allow farmers to use excess energy for domestic purposes or to sell to the grid”, O’Brien said.
He concluded: “A key element to increasing clean energy transition at farm level will be to ensure that any new scheme provides a 60% grant combined with a feed-in tariff that delivers a realistic payback period.”