Minister Peter Burke has been urged to greenlight the Housing Committee’s decision to remove planning restrictions on solar panels right away.
It comes just a week after Environment Minister Eamon Ryan announced solar panels for every school in Ireland alongside a new scheme offering grants up to €2,400 towards panels for businesses, public organisations and community groups.
Friends of the Earth praised the Joint Oireachtas Committee’s move to lift restrictions on the size and number of panels that can be put on homes and other buildings, after years of inaction.
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The group’s CEO, Oisín Coghlan, said: “We are finally approaching the finish line after years of dithering on solar.
“It has taken four years for Government to progress removal of planning restrictions on solar panels.
“We welcome the huge efforts from schools, groups and campaigners to make every school in Ireland a solar school [and] are now calling on the Minister to sign the regulations into law without delay.
“Decarbonising the energy sector has to take place with and for communities and not simply be something that happens around them.
“In the context of the energy crisis, it also helps to reduce people’s dependence on polluting, expensive fossil fuels.”
This change in planning law will allow schools, homes and businesses to put up enough panels to generate some or all of their electricity and potentially sell any excess electricity back to the grid.
Jerry Mac Evilly, Head of Policy at Friends of the Earth, added: “We are finally at the stage where the solar revolution can begin.”
The Sustainable Authority Ireland helps school, community groups, businesses, homeowners and more to access renewables and home energy grants.
Click here for information on their one stop shop service and advice on what grants are open to you.
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