A new grant aid rate of 60% will be available for solar PV and battery systems under the new Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS).

Under the Department of Agriculture’s new reference costs for TAMS III, revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal, the costs of solar photovoltaic panels including inverter and controller are calculated as follows: Reference cost = €1,441(KW) + €1,849.

Therefore, a 10KW solar PV system’s reference cost for the system would work out as: €1,441(10) + €1,849 = €16,259.

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Farmers are eligible to claim a grant of 60% of this, or €9,917.4. This means the net cost of the solar PV system works out as just €6,341.6.

Batteries

Despite some speculation that batteries may be dropped from the eligible items list, solar PV rechargeable batteries will also be eligible for grant aid of 60%.

The reference cost is calculated as follows: Reference cost = €703(kWh) + €753.

For a 5kWh battery, the reference cost works out as €4,268. Farmers are eligible to claim a grant of 60%, or €2,560.8. This means the net cost of the battery system works out as €1,707.2.

Other items such as solar-powered electric fencers and water pumps remain on the list of eligible items.