- The sun alone changes payback by about 1 year. The same solar system pays back in about 6 years in Wexford, the shortest of any county, and about 7 years in Donegal, the longest.
- About 6 years on average. That is what SEAI’s own 2025 figures give: what homeowners spent after the grant, divided by the value SEAI puts on the power those homes now make.
- In 2024, Meath had the highest uptake, with 23.8 homes in every 1,000 getting a grant-aided system. Donegal was lowest at 10.9.
- Grant-aided installs more than tripled, from 10,017 in 2022 to 33,048 in 2025.
Solar Payback by County
Picture the same home in every county, paying €7,171 after the grant for the same size of system. Only the sun changes.
On those terms, a system in Wexford pays for itself about 1 year sooner than the same system in Donegal.
This table compares sunshine only. Use it to compare counties, not to price your home.
| County | Sun yield (kWh per kW of panels) | Value a year | Payback (years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wexford | 1,020 | €1,240 | 6 |
| Waterford | 999 | €1,210 | 6 |
| Dublin | 982 | €1,190 | 6 |
| Louth | 977 | €1,190 | 6 |
| Kilkenny | 962 | €1,170 | 6 |
| Wicklow | 960 | €1,170 | 6 |
| Cork | 954 | €1,160 | 6 |
| Meath | 949 | €1,150 | 6 |
| Laois | 946 | €1,150 | 6 |
| Kildare | 936 | €1,140 | 6½ |
| Carlow | 932 | €1,130 | 6½ |
| Tipperary | 932 | €1,130 | 6½ |
| Westmeath | 928 | €1,130 | 6½ |
| Limerick | 924 | €1,120 | 6½ |
| Offaly | 924 | €1,120 | 6½ |
| Clare | 920 | €1,120 | 6½ |
| Galway | 920 | €1,120 | 6½ |
| Longford | 912 | €1,110 | 6½ |
| Cavan | 900 | €1,090 | 6½ |
| Roscommon | 900 | €1,090 | 6½ |
| Monaghan | 897 | €1,090 | 6½ |
| Mayo | 878 | €1,070 | 6½ |
| Kerry | 872 | €1,060 | 7 |
| Sligo | 863 | €1,050 | 7 |
| Leitrim | 855 | €1,040 | 7 |
| Donegal | 842 | €1,020 | 7 |
- Cost: €7,171 per home after the grant. That is SEAI’s estimate of private spending on its 2025 solar scheme, €237m, split across the 33,048 homes it supported.
- Sun yield: the kWh a year you get from each kW of solar panels on your roof. It comes from PVGIS, a solar map run by the EU Joint Research Centre, for a south-facing roof at 35°. We took readings at points spread across each county and used the middle one, from 842 in Donegal to 1,020 in Wexford.
- Power: SEAI says the homes on its 2025 scheme now use 155 GWh (155 million kWh) less electricity from the grid each year. That works out at 4,690 kWh per home on average, more in counties with a higher sun yield and less in those with a lower one.
- Value: each kWh is worth about 24.5c, which is SEAI’s figure of €38.0m a year of value divided by 155 GWh.
Where Ireland Is Installing Solar
| County | Installs 2022 | Installs 2024 | Per 1,000 homes (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meath | 569 | 1,740 | 23.8 |
| Wicklow | 466 | 1,120 | 20.7 |
| Clare | 329 | 929 | 20.0 |
| Louth | 316 | 961 | 19.4 |
| Wexford | 468 | 1,147 | 19.3 |
| Galway | 647 | 1,900 | 19.2 |
| Kilkenny | 238 | 661 | 18.0 |
| Kildare | 626 | 1,468 | 17.7 |
| Carlow | 116 | 391 | 17.6 |
| Offaly | 169 | 482 | 16.7 |
| Laois | 184 | 517 | 16.6 |
| Kerry | 305 | 945 | 16.2 |
| Tipperary | 373 | 1,001 | 16.1 |
| Roscommon | 158 | 416 | 16.0 |
| Westmeath | 205 | 541 | 15.9 |
| Waterford | 260 | 748 | 15.7 |
| Mayo | 288 | 812 | 15.6 |
| Sligo | 186 | 404 | 15.0 |
| Limerick | 307 | 1,141 | 14.9 |
| Cork | 1,190 | 3,116 | 14.7 |
| Cavan | 161 | 389 | 13.5 |
| Dublin | 1,989 | 6,324 | 12.2 |
| Leitrim | 103 | 166 | 12.2 |
| Monaghan | 125 | 256 | 11.2 |
| Longford | 73 | 178 | 11.0 |
| Donegal | 166 | 671 | 10.9 |
Sources: SEAI Retrofit Full Year Reports 2023 and 2024 (county solar PV completions); CSO Census 2022, private households by county.
What Solar Costs by House Type
These are SEAI’s median solar prices for January to June 2026.
| House type | Median price (SEAI) |
|---|---|
| Detached | €11,100 |
| Semi-detached or end of terrace | €9,500 |
| Mid terrace | €9,250 |
| Apartment | €9,075 |
The SEAI grant of up to €1,800 comes off these prices. See our solar panel cost guide for more.
The National Picture
| Year | Homes with a grant-aided solar install |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 10,017 |
| 2023 | 22,214 |
| 2024 | 28,424 |
| 2025 | 33,048 |
In 2025 SEAI paid €63.1m in solar grants. Homeowners put in an estimated €237m of their own money. Average total spend per home fell from €11,293 in 2024 to €9,168 in 2025.
Sources
- SEAI, Programme Impact Report 2025, Table 2
- SEAI, Retrofit Full Year Report 2024 and 2023, county solar PV tables
- SEAI, Median costs of individual energy upgrades, January to June 2026
- EU Joint Research Centre, PVGIS, yields at a grid of points in each county
- CSO, Census 2022, private households by county
Journalists and bloggers are welcome to use these figures. Please credit Solar Quotes Ireland and link to this page. For the full county data as a spreadsheet, contact us.