Ireland trebles solar energy capacity in three-year period

From left: Solar Ireland’s director of communications and strategy Priscila McGeehan, and CEO Ronan Power; Minister Darragh O’Brien, TD. Image: Shane O'Neill/Coalesce

Ireland has a national target of 8GW of installed solar capacity by 2030 under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme.

Ireland’s solar sector has almost trebled its total energy capacity to 2.7GW over the past three years, according to Solar Ireland’s annual ‘Scale of Solar’ report on the industry.

Ireland’s total connected solar capacity is now predicted to exceed 3.3GW by the end of this year, having grown by 297pc since 2023 and by 53pc, or nearly 1GW, in the 12 months to May 2026.

In the past year, solar generated more than 1.17TWh of electricity across Ireland, according to the report, with the equivalent of 460,000 homes powered by the country’s total connected solar capacity.