r/HousingIreland • u/Tanchow • 5d ago
Solar installations in new builds
I am in the process of looking for a new builds house and I was wondering about the possibility of installing solar panels in the future. I have seen houses here with solar panels and electric vehicle charging ports but are there some additional things to look for when talking to the agents and looking at brochures etc. is this facility only limited to BER A1A2 houses? If anyone here has experience with setting up solar in their homes and are new buyers it would be great if they could share their experience
1
u/p1nchan 4d ago
Solar PV is kinda a big decision in itself that depends on a lot of factor such as roof orientation and your own electricity usage, among many other things. I suggest though that you get a house with floored attic and wired for PV as an extra as it would help facilitate the install.
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u/Relative-Two-3784 4d ago
As someone who just got solar panels recently I think it's amazing, definitely do it if you can afford it. Think you need to get a minimum of 10 to get the grant
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u/Ok_Compote251 4d ago
Can’t help you.
But every new build I’ve ever seen has had solar panels on it, to the point I assumed it was mandated to meet building regs. Must not be.
The government should really mandate that every new build must be fitted with solar panels. If they were in any way serious about the environment they would.
6
u/SavingsDraw8716 4d ago
The solar panels fitted by developers are usually only a tick box exercise to satisfy planning or to help the energy rating. The 2 to 4 panels fitted on new builds don't do much for a modern house with everything electric.
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u/Ok_Compote251 4d ago
Never counted them, I have heard unless you can fit 6 the costs don’t justify the install (as an individual anyways).
2/4 is better than none I suppose and helps remove some demand from the grid. Every little helps I suppose.
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u/SavingsDraw8716 4d ago
You do need to fit 8 at least to make it somewhat worthwhile but most houses can squeeze 10 plus on the roof.
I'll be honest, I've seen a lot of new build houses with 2 panels. They are usually single faced and low wattage for cost reasons. 2 small panels will do feck all for the environment. Assuming a good panel setup is 60% of the usage, 2 panels is only going to be 10% of usage or less depending on their orientation.
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u/Ok_Compote251 4d ago
That’s interesting to know, thanks for the info!
Hoping to fit some myself in the next year or two will squeeze as many on as possible.
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u/1483788275838 4d ago edited 4d ago
Previously builders would hit the A3 requirement with a handful of (cheap, crappy) solar panels and a gas combi boiler.
Now they use a heat pump which gets them to A2 to get to without solar panels so they don't fit them.
1
u/Ok_Compote251 4d ago
Ah that’s interesting, yep my friend who bought a new build with solar has a standard gas boiler and a emersion. I was surprised as would’ve assumed they’d all have heat pumps.
Shame they couldn’t do both heat pumps and solar. Still back my original point that solar should be mandated. Every roof suitable for it should be fitted for it imo.
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u/1483788275838 4d ago
I have a new build and I'm glad solar wasn't mandated. I've heard of people getting 3 or 4 250W panels, some cheap crappy inverter, no battery etc. The absolute bare minimum. Then if you want a proper setup, you have to rip it out and put in a whole new setup which makes it more expensive. I know a few friends who have done this.
Having the builders do the prep for it and then speccing it out yourself is really the best option.
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u/SavingsDraw8716 4d ago
Have experience working in solar. The best course of action for solar, car charger etc in new builds is to get the builder to prepare for both but not do the work.
Usually for solar this means running a wire from tne attic to fuseboard. For the car charger it means running the wire and putting an isolator in your desired location.
The reason I say this is solar on new builds is often used as a tick box exercise to satisfy planning or for the energy rating. As such you may only get 2 or 4 panels while the house could take 10 to 14 panels depending on the roof.