Ireland Set to Overtake the UK in Solar PV Per Capita

Ireland is set to overtake the United Kingdom in solar PV capacity per capita for the first time, a new study by EnergyEfficiency.ie has revealed.

Ireland’s overall solar PV capacity reached 1,185 MW in the summer, with more than half of this coming from solar farms of over 5MW.

With the CSO’s updated population estimate for 2024, Ireland now has 220 watts (W) of solar PV per person – while the UK is just ahead with 252 W per capita.

Ireland is expected to have around 1,600 MW by the end of this year – which would mean 297 W of solar per inhabitant in Ireland.

With PV capacity growth much higher in Ireland than Britain, we will overtake our neighbours for the first time by the end of 2024.

The increase in capacity here has been down to an increase in utility scale solar projects, both large and small, as well as an increase in residential and commercial solar installations.

The study looked at where we stand on a per capita basis compared to other European countries.

The study found that Ireland falls significantly behind other EU states on a solar per capita basis, but that the gap is quickly closing.

Germany, leaders in solar energy in Europe, had 82.6 GW after Q2 2024, and this is expected to reach 88.9 GW by the end of the year.

That is 80 times the total solar capacity of Ireland and 978 W per inhabitant — around four times more than Ireland.

However Germany is behind the Netherlands when it comes to solar per capita, with the Dutch boasting 1,036 MW of PV per person.

Spain was one of the first EU countries to truly embrace solar energy, and in 2023, the country further increased its solar PV capacity by an impressive 28%. This added almost 6 GW to take its overall capacity to 25.5 GW.

This means the photovoltaic capacity in Spain is 535 W per inhabitant – more than double that of Ireland.

France falls behind both Germany and Spain when it comes to overall solar PV capacity, with 21,100 MW in total at the end of March 2024.

With a population of 68 million, this works out at 310 W per person in France.

Italy recorded a photovoltaic capacity of over 32GW in March 2024, so its per capita figure is 540 W per person.

Ireland remains well behind in terms of overall capacity and capacity per capita compared to Denmark, which was one of the pioneers of PV in Europe.

With a similar population to Ireland (5.9 million), Denmark had over 3.5 GW of PV capacity in 2023 – more than double Ireland’s capacity on a per capita basis (590 W per person).

Sweden also has a higher solar capacity per capita, with 390 W per person as of 2023 – a total of 4.1 GW for its population of 10.5 million.

Norway on the other hand has a much smaller solar capacity than Ireland with a similar population.

How many households have solar panels in Ireland?

It is estimated that around 100,000 households in the State now have solar panels installed – however the distribution of these panels is not spread evenly across the country.

In Census 2022, 11% of households in Meath reported having a solar array installed, compared to just 3% in Co. Dublin.

The meteoric rise in installations in 2023 due to the removal of VAT has continued into 2024, according to data published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

The number of panels being installed has risen again in 2024 despite a slight reduction in the SEAI grant on January 1st.

Read the full study at energyefficiency.ie