Solar Panels for Landlords in Ireland: Grants and Tax Relief

Yes — landlords can put solar panels on a rental property and claim the SEAI solar PV grant of up to €1,800, exactly as a homeowner would. SEAI lists the Solar PV Scheme as suitable for both private and commercial landlords. On top of the grant, landlords have a second support that owner-occupiers don't get: a Case V tax deduction of up to €10,000 per property for the cost of SEAI-grant retrofitting works, which the Finance Act 2025 extended out to the end of 2028 and widened to three properties. The catch is that the deduction only covers work backed by an approved SEAI grant, and the tenancy has to be registered with the RTB.

Can a Landlord Get the SEAI Solar Grant?

Yes. SEAI's own guidance for landlords lists the Solar PV Scheme as suitable for both private and commercial landlords, sitting alongside the Better Energy Homes individual grants for insulation, heat pumps and heating controls. The grant follows the same rules as it does for an owner-occupier — the only practical differences are who signs the application and, for commercial landlords, an extra authorisation step.

The grant is worth up to €1,800 in 2026, paid on a per-kilowatt basis:

The eligibility conditions apply to a rental exactly as they do to an owner-occupied home:

• The property must have been built and occupied before 2021 for renewable systems like solar PV, and have its own MPRN (meter point).
• The work must be done by an SEAI-registered installer, with grant approval in place before the job starts. You then have 8 months to complete it and submit the paperwork.
• No previous solar PV grant can have been paid at the same MPRN.
• You, the landlord, apply as the homeowner — the application is in the property owner's name, not the tenant's.

For the full eligibility checklist and how the €1,800 is paid out, see our guide to the SEAI solar grant. If your rental was built after 2020 it won't qualify for the solar PV grant — our page on the solar grant and new builds explains why and what's left.

The Retrofitting Tax Deduction Landlords Get on Top

This is the support that's unique to landlords. Separate from the grant, Revenue allows a landlord to deduct the cost of SEAI-grant retrofitting works against rental profits (Case V income) — a relief an owner-occupier simply can't claim, because they have no rental income to set it against.

The key terms, taken from Revenue's current guidance:

Because the deduction is only available "where you have received an approved retrofitting grant from SEAI", the grant and the deduction are designed to work together: the SEAI grant pays a fixed amount up front, and the retrofitting deduction lets you write off qualifying costs against your rental income on your annual return. A self-assessed landlord claims it through the Income Tax Return; a PAYE landlord claims it when filing their annual return.

Capital Allowances on the Equipment

Landlords can also claim capital allowances — "wear and tear" — on the cost of plant and fittings in a rental, written down at 12.5% a year over eight years. Revenue lists capital allowances among the expenses a landlord can set against rental income. Where the retrofitting deduction and capital allowances overlap you can't claim the same cost twice, so the two are alternatives on the same spend rather than a double write-off.

How a solar PV system is treated for capital allowances depends on how the cost is characterised, and that's exactly the kind of question worth putting to an accountant before you file — the figures above are the published rules, not tailored tax advice. The practical point for a landlord weighing up solar is that the supports don't stop at the grant: there's the €1,800 grant, the retrofitting deduction, and the normal capital-allowances regime, and a good adviser will tell you which combination is worth most on your specific spend.

Who Pays, and Who Gets the Benefit?

The economics of solar on a rental are different from solar on your own home, and they turn on one question: who pays the electricity bill?

• Tenant pays the bill (the usual case). The tenant holds the electricity account and gets the day-to-day saving from the solar generation. The landlord's return is indirect: a more efficient, more attractive property, a better BER, the chance of a longer tenancy, and the grant and tax reliefs above. This is the model SEAI points landlords towards — upgrade the property, the tenant enjoys lower bills, and you hold a better asset.
• Landlord pays the bill (common in HMOs and some short lets). Where the landlord holds the electricity account — bills included in the rent, or a multi-unit setup with a landlord-paid common supply — the landlord captures the generation saving directly, which changes the payback maths in the landlord's favour.

Export earnings follow the same logic. Whoever holds the electricity account with the supplier is the person paid the Clean Export Guarantee rate for units sent back to the grid. If the tenant holds the account, the export payments are the tenant's; if the landlord does, they're the landlord's. The micro-generation income-tax exemption is aimed at the resident's own home, so a landlord shouldn't assume it covers export income from a property they let — that's another point to confirm with an accountant.

Grid Connection and Export

The grid side is the same as any home install and is handled by your installer, not the tenant. The installer submits an NC6 notification form to ESB Networks, and the standard "inform and fit" thresholds apply: up to 25 amps (about 6 kVA) on a single-phase property, or 16 amps per phase (about 11 kVA) on three-phase. Within those limits there's no charge to connect and no prior approval — you can connect once 20 business days have passed without ESB Networks objecting. Once the smart meter is in and the NC6 is processed, the account holder is paid for export.

Frequently Asked Questions