Facts checked 25 July 2026. We’re based in Blyry Business & Commercial Park, Athlone, so this is our home patch.
Commercial electricity in Ireland typically lands at 25–35c/kWh fully loaded once standing charges, capacity charges and levies are counted. For a Midlands SME using 50,000 kWh a year at a rate near 30c, that’s €15,000 a year, and it goes up every time the market does. On top of that, Irish household prices are now the highest in the EU (Eurostat, first half of 2026), and the same network and generation costs sit underneath every bill.
The Midlands case is stronger than people assume
The light is fine. A Midlands roof generates around 850–900 kWh per installed kWp per year. That’s a planning range we use for sizing, not a measured statistic. Your survey replaces it with figures for your own roof. Orientation, pitch and shading move real output either way.
The building stock helps too. The commercial units around Athlone, Mullingar, Tullamore and Longford are mostly industrial units, retail parks and distribution sheds: large, shallow-pitched or flat roofs, little shading, and the electrical infrastructure already on site. Since October 2022, rooftop solar on commercial and industrial buildings needs no planning permission outside a handful of safeguarding zones near airports.
An SME that works 8am–6pm uses electricity at the same time the panels produce it, so a well-sized system sees most of its output used on site. Units you use yourself are worth your full unit rate. An exported unit earns a good deal less.
What the supports look like
- The SEAI business grant (NDMG): a fixed amount per kWp, doubled for applications made between 6 October 2026 and 6 July 2027. At the higher rate a 20 kWp system gets €13,200 and a 50 kWp system gets €25,200, capped at 45% of the installed cost.
- Accelerated Capital Allowances: profitable companies write the net cost off against tax in year one. It brings the tax relief forward but doesn’t reduce the price, so get your accountant to run the figures. More on our commercial page.
- Farms: can use the SEAI grant above or TAMS at 60%, against a ring-fenced €90,000 investment ceiling (so €54,000 at most), but not both on one job. TAMS runs in application tranches; the last one for 2026 closes on 4 December. With the SEAI rates doubled, it’s worth pricing a farm job both ways.
What a typical SME project involves
- Two numbers from your bill: annual kWh and unit rate. These tell us a lot before anyone visits.
- A roof and load assessment: structure, orientation, shading, and how your consumption spreads across the day. We size to your daytime demand, not to the most the roof could hold. An oversized system exports its surplus at a fraction of the import rate.
- Grant and grid paperwork: SEAI letter of offer before work starts (starting early voids the grant), with ESB Networks connection approval alongside. Six to ten weeks, typically, from application to being cleared to install.
- Installation in days: most SME-scale roof systems go up in under a week, phased around your operations. Ballasted mounting on flat roofs means no penetrations.
- Monitoring from day one: you see generation, consumption and export live. That is also the data larger customers increasingly ask for in supplier questionnaires.
The local part
Our office and stores are in Blyry Business & Commercial Park, Athlone. We don’t have to batch survey visits weeks out, the install crew isn’t coming down from Dublin, and if you need us in year fifteen of a thirty-year system we’re twenty minutes up the road. You’ll be dealing with whoever installs your system for a long time, so pick someone close by.
Get a free assessment for your premises, or ring the office on (090) 640 0180 and ask for Mick.