ENERGY AND CLIMATE Minister Daragh O’Brien is this morning seeking government sign-off on a number of retrofitting grants, including a new €600 solar panel battery grant for homeowners. 

Details of the grants were announced by O’Brien last week and include plans to introduce a new €2,000 boiler scrappage scheme, which will come into effect from January 2027.

The grants are being presented by O’Brien as a way to help households and businesses reduce energy costs and move away from fossil fuels, as well as strengthen Ireland’s energy security.

Under the changes being considered by the government today, more generous grants for solar, attic and cavity insulation will also be made available for certain Department of Social Protection recipients and landlords.

Further details are expected to be announced later today after cabinet has met. 

Plans to extend existing solar grants (worth €1,800) to homes built after 2021 are also set to be signed off by government today. 

Homes built between 2020 and 2025 are less likely to have installed solar panels than homes built between 2015 and 2020, due to changes in building regulations, with heat pumps becoming more popular from 2021 onwards.