On 29 September 2026 the Government approved a package of SEAI grant changes that opens on 6 October 2026. Two of them matter to anyone pricing solar: a new €600 grant for a home battery, and an extension of solar PV grant eligibility from homes built before 2021 to homes built and occupied before 2025. A third, the €2,000 fossil fuel boiler scrappage grant, took effect immediately and is already being added to live heat pump applications. The headline solar PV grant itself does not change: it stays at €1,800 maximum.
- New home battery grant: €600. Until 6 October no SEAI grant covered a home battery
- Solar PV and solar thermal eligibility extended to homes built and occupied before 2025, up from before 2021
- Enhanced solar grant of up to €9,000 for households on one of seven DSP payments — see the €9,000 solar grant for welfare recipients
- Boiler scrappage: €2,000 for swapping a fossil fuel heating system in a pre-2021 house. Effective immediately, not 6 October
- Warmer Homes Scheme will include solar PV up to 4 kWp and a 5 kWh battery as standard, fully funded
- Up to €9,000 for solar PV plus battery for homeowners on certain Department of Social Protection payments
- Solar PV grant amount unchanged at €1,800 maximum, €700 per kWp to 2 kWp then €200 per kWp to 4 kWp
- Opened at 5pm on 6 October 2026: 5 kWh minimum, home built and occupied before 2025, grant offer before the battery goes in
Ireland Has a Home Battery Grant Again: €600
This is the one people ask about on every quote call. The published measure is a grant for home battery energy storage systems worth €600, with an estimated household saving of up to €137 a year attached to it in the Department's own table.
Until 6 October the honest answer to "is there a battery grant in Ireland?" was no. The Solar Electricity Grant covers panels only, and the thing doing the heavy lifting on battery economics was the 0% VAT rule rather than any grant. That answer changed on 6 October.
SEAI published the scheme rules when it opened at 5pm on 6 October (read on seai.ie, 7 October 2026). The grant is a flat €600 for a battery of 5 kWh or more; smaller batteries don't qualify. It stacks with the €1,800 solar PV grant, and if you are fitting both, one application covers both. If you already have panels, you can apply for a battery on its own. You need SEAI's grant offer before the battery goes in, so a battery that is already fitted can't be claimed, and an SEAI-registered solar PV company has to install it. The home must have been built and occupied before 2025, and a home that has already had a battery grant at that MPRN is excluded.
Solar Grant Eligibility Extends to Homes Built Before 2025
The SEAI solar PV grant has always carried a building age rule: your home had to be built and occupied before 2021. That single condition disqualified every newer house, which is why the question "my house was finished in 2022, can I get the grant?" has been one of the most common on this site.
From 6 October 2026 the cut-off moves to built and occupied before 2025. The same extension applies to the solar thermal grant. The grant value does not change: it is still €1,800 maximum, so a newly eligible home gets exactly what an older home gets.
| Rule | Until 5 October 2026 | From 6 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Solar PV grant building age | Built and occupied before 2021 | Built and occupied before 2025 |
| Solar thermal grant building age | Built and occupied before 2021 | Built and occupied before 2025 |
| Maximum solar PV grant | €1,800 | €1,800 (unchanged) |
| Home battery grant | None | €600 |
Source: SEAI, "Minister O'Brien announces enhanced grants", 29 September 2026, and the matching Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment press release of the same date. Measures opened 6 October 2026.
If you bought or built a house between 2021 and 2024 and were turned away from the grant, this is the change to act on. SEAI asks for the year your home was built and occupied (if you're unsure, ESB Networks can give you the year it was connected), and planning permission is not the test, as explained in full on our page about the building age rule. One condition is unchanged: the grant is not open to an MPRN that has already had solar PV funding.
The €2,000 Boiler Scrappage Grant Is Already Live
Unlike the rest of the package, the €2,000 fossil fuel boiler scrappage grant took effect immediately. It applies to houses built before 2021 that are replacing an oil, gas, solid fuel or electric storage heating system with a heat pump.
SEAI has confirmed that homeowners with a heat pump grant application already in the system get it automatically. That covers both people whose works are not yet complete and people who have submitted their Declaration of Works and are waiting on payment. No action is needed from applicants.
Adding it to the existing bundle takes the heat pump system grant to a total of up to €14,500 for a house:
- Up to €10,500 for the heat pump system itself
- Up to €2,000 for central heating upgrades, where the design requires them (radiators, underfloor)
- €2,000 fossil fuel boiler scrappage support
SEAI's figures have since settled. Read on 3 October 2026, the grant values table shows €14,500 for air to water, ground source, exhaust air and water to water systems in a house and €11,500 in an apartment, with air to air a separate line at €9,500. The separate €4,000 Renewable Heat Bonus has disappeared from the individual grant page, folded into a single unit grant of up to €10,500. The One Stop Shop table has not followed: it still lists heat pump systems at €6,500 plus a €4,000 renewable heating system bonus, with no scrappage line. Full detail on the new grant is on our boiler scrappage scheme page.
Fully Funded Solar and Battery for Lower-Income Households
The largest sums in this package are not aimed at the typical paying customer. They are aimed at households most exposed to energy costs, and they are substantial:
| Who | What they get | Grant |
|---|---|---|
| Warmer Homes Scheme recipients | Solar PV up to 4 kWp plus 5 kWh battery, as standard | Fully funded |
| Homeowners on certain DSP payments | Solar PV up to 4 kWp plus 5 kWh battery | Up to €9,000 |
| Solar PV for the Medically Vulnerable Scheme | Solar PV up to 4 kWp plus 5 kWh battery storage | Fully funded |
| Rental Accommodation Scheme (Dublin pilot) | Solar PV up to 4 kWp plus 5 kWh battery | Up to €9,000 |
| HAP/RAS tenancies | Attic insulation | €1,400 to €2,500 by house type |
| HAP/RAS tenancies | Cavity wall insulation | €900 to €2,300 by house type |
The Department puts the household saving from a 4 kWp system with a battery at up to €878 a year. The seven qualifying Department of Social Protection payments for the €9,000 route are: Fuel Allowance under the National Fuel Scheme; Jobseeker's Allowance for over six months with a child under seven; Working Family Payment; One-Parent Family Payment; Domiciliary Care Allowance; Carer's Allowance where you live with the person you care for; and Disability Allowance for over six months with a child under seven.
Business Solar Grant Rate Almost Doubles, for Nine Months
If you are quoting solar for a farm, a school, a community centre or a business, the Non-Domestic Microgeneration Grant Scheme rate is being temporarily increased from around 23% of installation cost to 45% of eligible costs for a period of nine months. Heat pumps and solar thermal under the Business Energy Upgrades Scheme move to 45% of eligible costs as well.
The Department estimates savings of roughly €12,000 a year for around 1,250 businesses on the solar measure. Because the uplift is explicitly temporary, a business sitting on a solar decision has a window rather than an open door. Our page on the farm and business solar grants covers how the non-domestic scheme works.
What To Do About It
- House built 2021 to 2024? You have been eligible for the €1,800 solar grant since 6 October. Get quotes now and apply before work starts, and remember you must have grant approval before works start.
- Planning a battery? Apply for the €600 before the battery goes in. The scheme opened on 6 October, and a battery that is already fitted can't be claimed.
- Heat pump application in progress? Do nothing. The €2,000 scrappage uplift is applied automatically if you are eligible.
- On Fuel Allowance or another qualifying payment? Check the Warmer Homes Scheme and the DSP route before paying for anything privately. Fully funded beats €1,800.
- Already have solar with grant funding on the MPRN? The one-grant-per-MPRN rule for solar PV has not changed. The battery grant is separate: if you already have panels, you can apply for a battery on its own.
We connect you with SEAI-registered solar installers in your area. They handle the NC6 form, the ESB Networks registration and the grant completion paperwork; you make the grant application yourself, naming them. If your home became eligible on 6 October, having quotes in hand means you can apply straight away rather than starting from scratch. Free, no obligation.
Get a Solar Quote →Why Now
The package came out of the National Energy Affordability Taskforce, set up in June 2025 and chaired by the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment. Its first report fed into Budget 2026, including the extension of the 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity. An Energy Affordability Action Plan is due to follow Budget 2027.
The timing is not accidental: these measures opened on 6 October 2026, the same day Budget 2027 was announced. The Budget allocated over €650 million to SEAI home and community energy upgrades, including new battery grants, cut the carbon tax on kerosene and natural gas to €48.50 a tonne, and raised the microgeneration income tax disregard from €400 to €600.
Then there is the queue. SEAI reports roughly 100,000 applications processed since the start of 2026, more than double year on year, against a target of 73,000 home energy upgrades and a €640 million retrofit allocation in Budget 2026. More than 120,000 homes have been supported through the solar PV grant scheme to date. Extending eligibility to four more years of housing stock lands on a system that is already busy, so expect processing times to be the thing that bites rather than the grant rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, from 6 October 2026. The Government approved a €600 grant for home battery energy storage systems on 29 September 2026, with an estimated household saving of up to €137 a year. Before that date there was no standalone battery grant. SEAI's terms, published when the scheme opened, set a 5 kWh minimum, allow a battery on its own or alongside panels, and let it stack with the €1,800 solar PV grant.
From 6 October 2026, yes. The building age rule for the solar PV grant moves from "built and occupied before 2021" to "built and occupied before 2025". Before that date a 2022 home does not qualify. The grant amount is the same either way: €700 per kWp up to 2 kWp, then €200 per additional kWp up to 4 kWp, capped at €1,800. SEAI asks for the year the home was built and occupied; if you're unsure, ESB Networks can give you the year it was connected.
No. The maximum domestic solar PV grant stays at €1,800, as SEAI confirms on its own solar electricity grant page. What changed is who can claim it, not how much it is worth. The new money in this package goes to the €600 battery grant, the €2,000 boiler scrappage grant, and much larger fully funded or €9,000 packages for lower-income and medically vulnerable households.
It is already in effect. Unlike the rest of the package, the €2,000 fossil fuel boiler scrappage support applies immediately to eligible applicants. SEAI has confirmed that homeowners with an active heat pump grant application, including those who have already submitted a Declaration of Works and are waiting on payment, will have the €2,000 added automatically with no action required. It applies to houses built before 2021 replacing an oil, gas, solid fuel or electric storage heating system.
Up to €14,500 for a house and €11,500 for an apartment: up to €10,500 for the heat pump system, up to €2,000 for required central heating upgrades, and €2,000 boiler scrappage. Air to air systems are a separate line at €9,500. The separate €4,000 Renewable Heat Bonus is gone from the individual grant page, folded into the unit grant. A €200 grant toward the technical assessment is separate again.
Only briefly, and only if a battery is part of your plan. €600 is real money but small against the cost of a battery, and you cannot claim a grant for works that have already started. The scheme is open now, so there is nothing to wait for: apply for both grants before work starts. If you have grant approval and a date booked, talk to your installer rather than cancelling anything, because a cancelled and recreated solar PV application is assessed at the grant rates in force on the new application date.
Yes, temporarily. The Non-Domestic Microgeneration Grant Scheme rate rises from around 23% of installation cost to 45% of eligible costs for a nine-month period. Heat pumps and solar thermal under the Business Energy Upgrades Scheme also move to 45%. The Department estimates annual savings of roughly €12,000 for about 1,250 businesses on the solar measure.
Sources: SEAI, "Minister O'Brien announces enhanced grants to help households and businesses reduce energy costs and move away from fossil fuels", 29 September 2026; Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment press release, 29 September 2026; SEAI Solar Electricity Grant and Heat Pump System Grant scheme pages. All checked 1 October 2026. Measures opened 6 October 2026; SEAI's solar PV and battery grant criteria were read on seai.ie on 7 October 2026.