Longford is one of the smallest counties in Ireland, with the Leinster county having a population of just over 46,000 people. However, Longford is growing rapidly with the population expanding by 16% since the 2016 census.
As a growing area in the midlands, homeowners in Longford would benefit greatly from installing solar panels to reduce their electricity bills.
Solar Panels Adoption Longford
Longford trails behind the rest of Ireland in terms of the installation of domestic solar PV to date. SEAI figures show that just 408 homes in Longford have received the solar panels grant since 2015, the lowest number in the country.
However, more than half of that has been from the start of 2023 up to the end of August 2024. In the first 8 months of 2024 alone 109 homes have installed solar panels, more than a quarter of the total figure.
With the year not over yet, and with the expected Q4 surge in installations, that figure looks to be accelerating at pace with the rest of the country.
Homeowners in Longford who are now looking at getting solar panels installed can look at our vetted installers to feel safe in the hands of reputable professionals.
Longford Climate
Climate plays a huge role the performance of solar panels. Daily hours of sunshine, average temperatures, and more can affect their power output.
Fortunately for Irish homeowners solar panels do not need the constant sunshine of places such as Spain or Italy to produce electricity, and solar PV performs just as well in the Irish climate.
Longford lies in the midlands of Ireland, not quite getting the heavy winds and rain of the Atlantic Coast, but not enjoying the sunshine of the southwest region of the country either.
Longford Towns & Villages
Co. Longford has the second lowest population in Ireland at 46,634 people as of the 2022 census. Nearly one quarter of that population is located in Longford Town, by far the largest urban area in the county.
Longford features multiple other towns with a population between 1,000 – 2,500, but is also a substantially rural county, with much of the population living in smaller villages and country areas.
| Towns & Villages | Population |
| Longford Town | 10,952 |
| Edgesworthtown | 2,199 |
| Lanesborough-Ballyleague | 1,733 |
| Ballymahon | 1,714 |
| Drumlish | 1,124 |
| Granard | 1,058 |
Longford Housing
Longford has the second smallest number of dwellings with BERs registered at 9,715, only higher than Leitrim.
However, as the county also only has a population of less than 50,000 people this can be understood to make up a significant proportion of the county’s housing after considering households with multiple individuals.
Only a small proportion of the housing in Longford, just 6%, has an A rating on the BER scale, showing few highly energy-efficient new build homes.
On the other end of the scale, 9% of the homes in Co. Longford have a G rating, one of the highest levels in the country.
In between, nearly a third of all homes have a C rating, where they would potentially benefit greatly from installing solar panels to improve their energy efficiency.
| Area | Energy Rating | Total Housing Stock | Average Age | ||||||
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |||
| Longford County | 583 | 1,360 | 3,400 | 2,040 | 972 | 486 | 874 | 9,715 | 32 |
Data accurate as of Q2, 2024. Source: CSO.ie
