LUC has contributed to the revision of solar panel exempted development regulations in Ireland.

LUC undertook the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the proposed regulations on behalf of the Irish Government.

Peter Burke, TD and Minister of State for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, published the draft regulations earlier this month. They are now open for public consultation.

Solar energy is largely underutilised in Ireland, and accounts for a fraction of renewable energy generated. The draft regulations propose a series of measures to promote self-generation of solar energy, including:

• removing the 12 square metre-based limit / 50% of the total roof area limit which applies currently to houses
• increasing rooftop square metre limits to 60sqm for developments other than houses
• adding two new classes of development to the regulations, relating to apartments and educational / community / sports / healthcare / religious buildings.

The SEA concludes that the proposed regulations will generally have a wide range of positive effects, particularly in relation to climate change and air quality, as they promote the uptake of renewable energy technologies which will increase Ireland’s installed renewable energy capacity, reduce reliance on traditional fossil fuels, and will help to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The assessment also identifies a number of possible mixed effects (positive effects combined with negative effects) from the proposed regulations, however, any adverse effects are unlikely to be significant provided the appropriate mitigation measures are applied.

The public consultation closes on 13 July 2022, and is available on the Irish government website.

Learn more about our Strategic Planning & Assessment services.