Costs, Benefits & Savings

COST
Solar panels and vacuum tubes can cost as little as €3,000 for a house of 2-3 people (20 tubes + 200 litres cylinder), and €3,800 for a house of 4-5 people (30 tubes + 300 litre cylinder). This cost effective pricing is achieved using systems manufactured in China (Techsolar), which have a 7 year warranty.

We prefer to recommend a higher quality system (Kingspan Thermomax), manufactured in Ireland costing from €4,000 for a house of 2-3 people (20 tubes + 200 litres cylinder), and €4,700 for a house of 4-5 people (30 tubes + 300 litre cylinder). As we are fully accredited Kingspan installers these come with a 20 year warranty.

There are grants available from SEAI of €800 and we guide our customers through the process to ensure eligibility for this valuable cost saving.

BENEFITS
With solar panels or tubes installed a typical household will enjoy 90% of the hot water required for central-heating-off months of the year. Typically that’s April – September. This saves 90% of heating and immeresion costs for that period.

What may come as a surprise is that you will also see savings of 20%-25% on your winter heating bills from October to March. In these central-heating-on months the solar will preheat your domestic hot water, reducing the amount of heat needed to maintain your radiators or underfloor heating to it’s required levels. In other words, you will only have to boost your hot water from 25-30° to the required 40° instead of from 7-8° up to 40° for steaming hot showers and baths. So while solar doesn’t directly heat your radiators, you will see a reduction of 20-25% in your central heating bills after your solar panels are installed.

SAVINGS
Previous customers with standard solar thermal heating solutions have calculated their annual savings at €700-€800 so solar panels will typically pay for themselves in 5-7 years.

And remember, if you invest €5000 in a savings account it will earn you about €120 per year, which is then subject to DIRT tax. If you invest that money in solar panels it will earn over 6 times that amount and you won’t be taxed on it! You will not get that sort of return on investment in ANY financial institution.

Installing solar panels will also increase the BER (Building Energy Rating), of your house by at least 1 grade making your property more valuable.