Solar PPAs in Ireland: PPA vs Buying Outright

Facts checked 25 July 2026. PPA pricing is contract-specific. The figures here describe structure, not a quote.

A Solar Power Purchase Agreement is an arrangement where someone else pays for the solar system on your roof, and you buy the electricity it produces. You put up no capital and you don’t look after maintenance. In exchange you sign a long contract and take a smaller share of the savings.

We offer both routes, outright installation and PPAs, so we’ve no reason to push you towards either.

How a PPA works

• The provider designs, funds, installs, owns, insures and maintains a solar system on your premises.
• You commit to buying the electricity it generates, at a rate set below your grid rate, typically for 10–25 years.
• At the end, depending on the contract: buy the system at market value, extend the agreement, or have it removed.

The provider makes its money on the difference between what the system costs to run and the rate you pay. Your saving is the gap between the PPA rate and your grid rate. You see it from the first month, but it’s smaller than if you owned the system.

PPA or buying outright

Buy outright if you can. Ownership captures the whole benefit: the NDMG grant (PPA providers claim it instead and pass it through in the rate), Accelerated Capital Allowances against year-one tax, and every unit at full value for 25+ years. Over the life of the system, owning usually comes out ahead of a PPA in total euros.

A PPA still makes sense in a few situations:

• Your capital earns more elsewhere. If money put into the business returns more than the solar would save, keep it in the business.
• You don’t want to be involved in running it. Performance risk, maintenance, insurance and inverter replacement all sit with the provider, usually with a generation guarantee.
• The balance sheet matters to you. PPA payments are an operating cost: no debt and no depreciation schedule.
• You plan to stay in the building but can’t be certain. Contracts can include assignment provisions for a property sale. Have your solicitor go through that clause carefully.

The trade-offs:

• 10–25 years is a longer commitment than most business plans.
• The equipment belongs to the provider, so changes need their agreement.
• You will pay more over the term than an owner would.
• The provider is funding the system, so they will check your credit.

Questions to ask any PPA provider (including us)

1. What is the starting rate, and does it rise each year? Many agreements build in an annual increase. Work out what you’d be paying in the final year, not just the first.
2. What happens if the system underperforms? Is there a guaranteed generation floor with compensation?
3. What are the end-of-term options, and how are they priced?
4. What happens if we sell the building?
5. Who insures what, and who pays for the inverter replacement mid-term?

A provider that answers all five in writing is worth talking to. One that gets vague on question 3 or 4 is not.

Our advice

If your business is profitable, has the cash or cheap finance, and intends to stay in the building, own the system. You keep the grant, the allowances and the full savings. If capital is tight, or you’d rather someone else owns and runs the system, a well-drafted PPA is a sensible way to cut your electricity costs without putting up the capital.

The worst option is doing neither and paying Irish commercial electricity prices for a large daytime load.

Ask us to model both options for your site and we’ll show you the figures side by side, or ring us on (090) 640 0180.