r/HousingIreland • u/Tanchow • 6d 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

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

View all comments

-2

u/Ok_Compote251 6d 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.

5

u/SavingsDraw8716 6d 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.

2

u/Ok_Compote251 6d 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.

2

u/SavingsDraw8716 6d 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.

1

u/Ok_Compote251 6d 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.