Free tool
Solar PV Payback Calculator
See how quickly solar panels pay for themselves in Ireland, using published electricity rates or your own tariff.
The installed-cost default is a historical manual estimate, not a current quote. Enter your own quoted cost and tariff before making a decision.
Enter valid non-negative values in every field before using this estimate.
Your System
Payback period
—
years
Annual benefit
—
savings + export
Annual breakdown
Annual generation —
Self-consumed —
Exported to grid —
Bill savings —
CEG export earnings —
Total annual benefit —
Net cost after grant —
CO₂ saved per year —
SEAI grant: Up to €700/kWp for the first 2 kWp, then €200/kWp up to 4 kWp, capped at €1,800.
Changing system size resets the suggested grant. You can enter a smaller approved amount, including zero, and other edits will keep it.
Calculations assume 950 kWh/kWp/yr (Irish average). Actual generation depends on location, orientation, shading. Rates from SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison and CEG published rates.
Sources and dates for these figures
- Electricity Band DC (2,500–5,000 kWh/yr, incl. VAT) — SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison: automatically collected; source date .
- Clean Export Guarantee — Electric Ireland — SEAI / Electric Ireland: manually researched; source date .
- Solar PV grant maximum — SEAI: manually researched; source date .
- Solar PV grant rate (per kWp) — SEAI: manually researched; source date .
- Solar PV grant — marginal rate above 2 kWp — SEAI: manually researched; source date .
- Solar PV — typical 4.4 kWp system installed (before grant) — SEAI / industry research: manually researched; source date .
A daily refresh attempt does not mean every source has changed. If a source cannot be read, we keep the last available figure. How we research and update the site.