Solar panels are one of the most lucrative forms of home investment, or any kind of investment, available today. 

With electricity costs as high as they are in Ireland, and expected to go higher still in many cases, reducing your electricity usage and bills can save homeowners huge amounts of money.

Solar panels earn money for you by generating electricity, but there are two main ways that can benefit you.

Most households with solar panels will have a combination of these two factors which combine to make your total savings and earnings from solar panels.

Solar panels have the potential to earn you hundreds of euro in savings each year, with their value over the course of their lifespan extending into tens of thousands of euro. 

The lifetime savings are the true value of solar panels, as once they have paid off their installation cost, this is pure profit for the homeowners.

Annual savings assume Electric Ireland Standard 24hr rate with no discount of 34c per kWH / 60% self-consumption of electricity generated and feed-in tariff of 19.5c per kWh

The figures we have shared above are all based on specific values in 2025, and what you earn will vary greatly from household to household. Electricity prices will also vary over time in ways we cannot predict, and this will affect the value of solar panels in the long term.

The exact earnings from your solar PV system will depend on multiple factors related to that system itself, and to your own electricity usage and bills.

While solar panels will immediately begin saving you significant amounts of money on a regular basis, they also come with a substantial upfront cost. Your savings will first have to be offset against the cost of getting solar panels. The time it takes to recoup the initial investment is referred to as the payback period for solar panels.

The average size for a solar PV system in Ireland in 2025 is just under 6kWp, which would comprise 13 or 14 solar panels with a power output of 420W to 440W.

These figures assume 440W solar panels for the system size, and the installation costs include the deduction of the 2025 SEAI Solar PV Scheme grant. Payback periods have been calculated using the same earnings mentioned above.

The good thing about any power generated by your solar panels is that it does not go to waste if it is unused at the time.

Microgeneration payments allow homeowners to be paid for any solar electricity which they do not use or store in a battery. This is possible because home solar panels will default to sending any unused electricity into the grid unless they are instructed otherwise.

Homeowners are paid for this unused electricity with Feed-in Tariffs set by electricity providers. These provide a price per kWh for each unit of electricity exported to the grid.

Microgeneration Feed-in Tariff rates correct as of September 17, 2025.

Currently, homeowners are able to earn up to €400 tax-free from selling excess solar power back to the grid. Income above that limit is subject to income tax, PRSI, and USC.

However, at the time of writing, this provision is due to expire at the end of 2025, and it is not clear yet whether it will be extended in Budget 2026.

Regardless, while microgeneration is not worth as much as avoiding having to use electricity from the grid at all, it can still earn homeowners hundreds of euro a year.

Here’s an example of potential savings with a Feed-in Tariff of 19.5c. Earnings from selling surplus electricity can vary massively on different sized solar PV systems, and by the percentage of electricity they make that is exported. 

Before you decide to rely on Feed-in Tariffs for income, it is worth noting that they are completely controlled by your electricity supplier and may be reduced at any time.

Solar batteries can increase your solar earnings by further reducing your need for power from the grid. They do this by storing power generated by your solar panels during the day for use in the evening when they are no longer productive.

This can be extremely beneficial in different scenarios:

In both these cases, a lot or all of the power generated by solar panels will be exported unless it is stored in a solar battery.

Some tips for maximising your benefits from a solar battery system include:

Batteries can also have a dual use of charging from solar panels during the day, and from the grid at night, using cheaper electricity prices. This stored energy can then be used the following morning.

Doubling up on your battery usage can significantly reduce its payback period and increase its earning potential over a decade or more lifespan.

When you have solar panels installed on your home, one of the simplest ways to maximise your savings is to make sure that you have the right type of electricity provider and plan.

The value of factors such as free electricity during the day, microgeneration payments, stored power for the evening, or charging a battery at night can be altered greatly between different electricity plans.

Most electricity plans will have some variation of the following types of rates:

You should make sure that your electricity plan gives you the cheapest price for electricity when you are relying on electricity from the grid.

For example, if you use all of your solar electricity during the day, and only a little grid power, then you should seek a plan with a low price for electricity at night.

On the other end of this, if you store power in a battery mainly for use in the evening, then the daytime price is of greater importance.

We already covered selling surplus electricity above, but you must also consider what different suppliers are offering as a feed-in tariff if you will likely be exporting significant amounts of electricity.

In short, you need to shop around and find the best electricity plan which works with solar panels.

One of the easiest ways to get the most important information about your earnings from solar panels is to use a monitoring system for that purpose.

Solar monitoring platforms all provide information about solar energy production and grid imports. But the best of them can also combine this with information about your electricity prices to provide real time and historical data about your solar savings and electricity costs.

This kind of information can let you see patterns in when electricity is costing you the most, and how to change your usage patterns to maximise savings.