While Ireland currently sits behind other European nations in terms of installed solar capacity, the pipeline of Irish solar projects continues to grow, as the country aims to meet one of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in Europe and source 16% of its total energy from renewables by 2020 and 27% by 2030. Currently, just over 9% of Ireland’s energy is sourced from renewables, with less than one per cent (10 MW) coming from solar projects.
Despite this growth in the pipeline, however, several factors have led to a bottleneck in the application system. Multiple grid applications by developers for new connection offers have overstretched the resource available to process them, while the delay on an announcement regarding a new solar subsidy system has further caused the rate of development to slow.
Additional factors, such as the lack of national planning guidance on ground-mount solar and the excessive planning requirements from some regulators, are creating further uncertainty in the market.
With this in mind, Dulas has drawn on its extensive experience of solar PV design and installation in the UK and further afield to advise Irish developers on drawing up design and layout plans for new developments.
Dulas’ design services ensure that solar PV projects are as near to ‘shovel-ready’ for construction as possible, improving developers’ chances of securing planning approval and allowing them to more easily proceed to this next phase once planning permission has been secured.
In addition to this high level of detail, Dulas’ design services are sufficiently adaptable to allow clients a number of procurement options on panels, mounting systems, inverters, and other equipment prior to construction, helping to secure the optimal infrastructure for a given site.
“We’re seeing ever-increasing demand for our design and technical services in Ireland, and our current and burgeoning client base is a reflection of that,” said Michael Phillips, Principal Consultant at Dulas.
“The developers in question commissioned Dulas to undertake this design work based on our expertise in solar PV, and our detailed design offering will allow them to hit the ground running and begin construction as soon as planning permission has been secured.”
As an expert technical provider on solar PV systems, Dulas advise on energy yield analyses, battery storage and construction methods, as well as design and installation.