The Department of Agriculture has published specifications and updated reference costs for TAMS II grants covering solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and battery storage on its website.

As previously reported, the reference cost for the panels is €1,044/kWp (kilowatt potential), up to a maximum of 6kWp, plus €1,340 per installation covering the inverter and associated equipment.

The reference cost for batteries, initially announced at €505/kWh, has increased to €703/kWh plus €753 per installation.

There is no maximum overall grant, as the eligible battery size will be determined on a case-by-case basis after an energy survey (see below).

However, a Department spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that for a given 6kWp panel installation associated with 6kWh of battery storage, the maximum grant would be €5,030 at the 40% grant rate and €7,545 at the young farmers’ 60% rate.

This falls short of the €9,300 maximum promised by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed in March.

Before applying, farmers must get their registered installer to complete an energy survey and farmyard plans.

This includes a review of the previous 12 months’ electricity bills and details of the proposed solar installation to ensure it “maximises the farm enterprise’s likely self-consumption of generated solar electricity”.

If the farm and home are on the same meter, the average 4,600kWh domestic consumption can be deducted from the past year’s bills to estimate the farm’s demand.

The technical specifications are largely based on existing standards for solar PV installations on safety, quality and efficiency, as well as impact on buildings to which they are fitted.

Only new products are eligible and they must offer a 20-year warranty and a minimum peak output of 170Wp/m2 for crystalline silicon modules or 40Wp/m2 for thin film modules.

A separate meter must be installed to measure solar electricity output.

Off-grid systems, for example on an outfarm, are allowed.

Read more in last week’s Focus supplement or online at ifj.ie/solartams.