For your farm
Farm solar
Parlours, pumps, coolers and workshops draw power during daylight — the same hours a solar array produces. It is one of the best natural matches in Irish solar.
- 60% TAMS grant rate
- Up to €54,000
- Shed and ground-mount options
Accredited & registeredIn business 13 years
SEAI Registered
Safe Electric
Solar Ireland Member- Athlone Chamber Member
- Based in AthloneTrading since 2013
Why it suits farming
Farm load and solar generation line up
On most holdings, a high share of the electricity a system generates never leaves the farm.
That is the number that decides whether farm solar is worth doing. Milking, plate cooling, bulk tank refrigeration, water pumping, ventilation, meal augers and workshop tools are daytime loads. They draw at exactly the hours a roof is producing, so units are consumed on site at the full price you would otherwise have paid — rather than exported at a lower rate.
Dairy is the clearest case, because the demand curve is both daytime-weighted and highly predictable. But drystock holdings with significant pumping, storage or workshop load often stack up well too.
The shed is usually the better roof
On most farms the best mounting surface is not the farmhouse. Shed and store roofs offer long, clear, unshaded planes with simple mounting and short cable runs to the board — cheaper and faster to install than a complicated dwelling roof, and generally capable of carrying a far larger array.
Grant support
Solar Capital Investment Scheme (SCIS) under TAMS 3
Farm solar sits outside SEAI. It is supported through TAMS and administered by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Grant rate
60%
Investment ceiling
€90,000
Ring-fenced for solar
Maximum grant payable
€54,000
60% of €90,000
Grant-aided system size
Up to 62 kWp
A correction worth making
You will see it stated in a lot of places — including, until recently, on our own website — that the TAMS solar grant is "up to €90,000". That is not right. €90,000 is the maximum spend the grant is calculated against. At a 60% rate, the maximumpayment is €54,000. We would rather tell you that up front than have you find out at application stage.
The ring-fencing is the valuable part
The solar ceiling is ring-fenced, so it does not consume the investment ceilings available to you for other farm buildings or machinery under TAMS. Battery storage is also eligible, capped at 50% of the solar PV output in kWp. One scheme per project though — TAMS funding cannot be combined with the SEAI Non-Domestic grant for the same investment.
2026 deadlines: 4 September 2026 and 4 December 2026
TAMS applications are processed in tranches, and the remaining closing dates for 2026 are4 September 2026 and 4 December 2026. Miss one and the application simply rolls into the next tranche — but approval, and the installation behind it, move back by months. If you want panels earning before next summer, the paperwork needs to start now.
Design
What we assess on a farm survey
Farm sites raise questions a suburban roof never does. These are the ones that shape the design.
Roof structure and sheeting condition
Older shed sheeting and purlins were not designed with an array in mind. We assess condition and structural capacity before specifying anything — and will tell you if a roof needs work first.
Wind loading and exposure
Open agricultural sites carry considerably higher wind loading than sheltered suburban roofs. The mounting system has to be specified for the actual exposure of your site. This is real engineering input, not a formality.
Supply capacity and export limits
On rural networks the existing connection and permitted export can constrain system size. We establish this early so the system we quote is one you can actually connect and register.
Load timing across the year
A dairy holding's demand shifts substantially between peak and dry periods. We size against the pattern across the year rather than a single snapshot.
Ground-mount where roofs will not do
Where no roof suits a decent array, a ground-mounted system removes the constraint entirely and allows optimal orientation and tilt. It carries its own planning considerations, which we work through with you.
Corrosive and dusty environments
Slurry gases, agricultural dust and coastal salt all affect equipment selection and where the inverter should sit. Putting the wrong equipment in the wrong shed is a durability problem that shows up years later.
Good to know
Farm solar PV installation: common questions
Do you handle the grant paperwork?
We guide you through it. For the home solar grant, you apply to SEAI yourself — it is a short online application — and we give you every detail it asks for, then handle the installer declarations, the ESB Networks notification and the completion documents that release the payment. Whichever scheme applies, no work should start before your grant approval is issued — the SEAI letter of offer, or TAMS approval from the Department of Agriculture for farm projects. We make sure that sequencing is right.
What grant is available for farm solar?
Farm solar is supported through the Solar Capital Investment Scheme (SCIS) under TAMS 3, administered by the Department of Agriculture rather than SEAI. It is grant-aided at 60% against a ring-fenced investment ceiling of €90,000 — so the maximum grant payable is €54,000. Systems are grant-aided up to 62 kWp, and battery storage is eligible up to 50% of the solar PV output in kWp.
How much is the SEAI solar grant for a home?
The SEAI Solar PV Grant is worth up to €1,800. It is paid at €700 per kWp for the first 2 kWp installed, then €200 for each additional kWp up to 4 kWp. So a 2 kWp system attracts €1,400 and a 4 kWp or larger system attracts the full €1,800.
Is my home eligible for the SEAI grant?
Your home needs to be in Ireland and to have been built and occupied before 1 January 2021, you need a BER assessment on file (there is no minimum rating), and the work has to be carried out by an SEAI-registered installer. Lumen Solar is an SEAI-registered Solar PV company, so your installation qualifies.
What does home solar actually cost?
It depends on the roof and the equipment, which is why we quote from a survey rather than a price list. Domestic solar is zero-rated for VAT, and the €1,800 SEAI grant comes off what you pay. Your quotation names the exact equipment and the exact price, with the payback calculation and its assumptions written down.
Is the grant deducted from the price, or paid to me?
For the domestic SEAI grant, the money is normally paid to you by SEAI after the installation is completed and the post-works documentation — including the BER assessment — has been submitted. Your quotation from us shows the full price and the grant separately, so there is no ambiguity about what you pay and what comes back.
What grant support is available for a business?
The SEAI Non-Domestic Microgen Scheme supports non-domestic solar installations up to 1000 kWp, with a maximum grant of €162,600. Support is tiered by system size, so the rate per kWp reduces as the system gets larger. Businesses, farms, schools, public sector bodies, community groups and non-profits can all apply.
How do I get paid for electricity I export?
Export payments come from your electricity supplier under the Clean Export Guarantee, not from the government. When we commission your system we notify ESB Networks (the NC6 or NC7 form), which is what registers you as a microgenerator; your supplier then applies its export rate to your account. With a smart meter your actual export is measured; rates vary by supplier, so it is worth comparing.
Explore
Other things we do
Most systems we install combine more than one of these. We design them together rather than bolting them on afterwards.
Battery Storage
Keep the electricity you generate instead of exporting it, and hold power in reserve for outages.
Learn more
Commercial Solar PV
Turn a large roof into a long-term hedge against electricity prices, with SEAI grant support of up to €162,600.
Learn more
Solar Maintenance & Support
Inspections, monitoring and repairs that keep an array earning across its warranted life.
Learn more
Get started
Let's look at the holding
We will assess your sheds, your supply and your load, and tell you what is worth doing — and what is not.