Future Proof – Solar For Your Farm Or Business
Updated August 16, 2024
By Morgan Pierce
Have you driven through the countryside recently and spotted sheep grazing betwixt and between fields of solar panels? Or rows of crops growing inside extensive solar greenhouses?
Perhaps you’ve heard about the craft brewery in Cork, or the pub in Dublin powered by Solar? Or maybe done your weekly shop in one of the many grocery stores – Tesco, Supervalu or Centra – which have invested in turning their hectares of unused roof space into solar energy microgenerators?
If so, you’re seeing the real-world application of Ireland’s solar revolution. You are also seeing the power of government-backed initiatives, incentivising solar for businesses and solar for farms, encouraging them think about how they use and produce energy.
Solar For Farmers – Future Proof The Family Farm
Solar is fast becoming part the farmer’s toolkit for increasing energy independence and saving money.
Under the Irish government’s TAMS 3 Solar Capital Investment Fund, farmers nationwide are eligible to help improve efficiency and productivity. The scheme aims to encourage solar for farms, to create self-sustaining renewable energy to help farmers lower their electricity costs. It is dedicated specifically to investments in solar energy.
It was set up to help cover some of the costs of installing solar panels. If approved, the Grant provides 60% of the cost of installing solar – up to a maximum of €90,000 per farm. Grant aid can be applied to both solar panels to capture the sun’s rays and to batteries needed to store the energy produced.
Under the TAMS 3 guidelines, solar panels must be installed on the roof of farm buildings, or on the ground if there is available space. The solar panels may not be installed on residential land, such as the home or garden. Any energy generated can, however, be used to power the home or for other domestic purposes like charging an EV. In most case, no planning permission is required to install solar.
You can also find a full list of the terms and conditions of the scheme on the DAAFM website here.
Solar + Sheep = “Agrivoltaics”
That’s the little formula that pops into my head when I’m asked to explain how solar can benefit a working farm. In simple English, “agrivoltaic” means dual purposing land so that it can be used for agriculture and solar generation at the same time.
While the TAMS 3 grants are aimed at lowering farmers’ costs and making agriculture more sustainable, agrivoltaics take things up a notch. By adding enough energy to “solar farm” – generate electricity to export to the national grid – agrivoltaics can be an effective, sustainable way for farmers to generate an additional income stream.
In agrivoltaic farming, solar panels can be mounted on the ground in rows to allow farm machinery – or grazing animals – to pass between them. In other cases, panels can be installed on elevated frames to allow crops to grown beneath. Then there are the solar greenhouses we mentioned, and that some industry experts see as an important part of meeting rising demand for food production. The type of installation appropriate for any given farming enterprise is dictated by the needs of the crop.
Though further research is still needed, studies have shown that agrivoltaics have the potential increase the yield of both solar panels and particular crops.
Dual purposing land in the way that agrivoltaics makes possible can help ease the growing competition for land from agriculture, renewable energy, and data centres. Agrivoltaics give landowners the opportunity to supplement farm income by selling their any excess electricity they generate back to the Grid under the non-domestic microgeneration support scheme.
Solar For Business – From Farm to Fork
Solar power has also caught the attention of forward-thinking businesses further along the food chain. These days, most food that reaches our tables is sold through large-scale grocery stores – in essence, food warehouses. The size and shape of these businesses roofs make them ideal for generating electricity from solar.
Companies like Tesco, Supervalu, Centra and Co-op have seen the value of investing in solar to power their businesses. Not only are they lowering their energy costs and making the business more sustainable – in the hyper-competitive grocery sector “greening” their business practices is major selling point for appealing to environmentally conscious consumers.
The same truths hold true elsewhere in the food and hospitality industry – for pubs, restaurants, hotels, for swimming pools, and sports halls. In fact, for any business, solar represents an opportunity for long term cost savings.
And there is money available to make the transition affordable. Under the micro-generation support scheme, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) provides a tiered system of supports for the installation of solar – businesses from farms to retails stores, to warehousing, to light industry can access the grants.
The grants are as follows:
- Up to 6kWp are €2,400, with an additional:
- €300/kWp for each extra kWp installed between 7kWp -20kWp
- €200/kWp for each extra kWp installed between 21kWp- 200kWp
- €150/kWp for each extra kWp installed between 201kWp-1000kWp
This means that installations up to 1MW are eligible for a grant of up to €162,600!
The farming and business world are full of challenges. Solar for farmers or business can help meet those challenges, while giving famers and business owners the opportunity to make a vital contribution to Ireland’s transition to a greener, more sustainable economy.
If that’s given you food for thought, give us a call to discuss how your business or farm can be part of the change.
Why Choose Solar In Ireland?
Investing in Irish solar panel systems can bring many benefits, including reduced energy bills, increased energy independence, and a reduced carbon footprint. If you are interested in installing a solar panel system in Ireland, it is also worth exploring the different grant options and green business loans available and seeking professional advice from one of our solar energy advisors.
Feel free to contact us for more information, we’re here to help.