Planning permission public consultation on solar panels

My reading of it is that there is a 60 square metre exemption limit for commerical building rooftop solar in the safeguarding zones - but no limit for domestic rooftop solar in the safeguarding zones. So still a massive improvement from the current situation.

Anyone interested in ground solar should be getting worked up or at least taking a strong interest in this - for the reasons outlined in my first post. If ground arrays are included in the part of the planning regs that covers exempt sheds, anyone with an existing exempt shed or even a shed that has been granted PP, may not be able to have an exempt ground array.

The definition of "such structures" is critical here.

it's both. Reading it again, the fact that it says "such installations" rather than "such structures" may mean that solar PV ground arrays are not being lumped in with exempt garages, sheds etc.

"4. The total aperture area of any free-standing solar photo-voltaic and solar thermal collector installations taken together with any other such existing free-standing installations, shall not exceed 25 square metres.

5. The placing or erection of any free-standing solar photo-voltaic or solar thermal collector installation shall not reduce the remaining area of private open space, reserved exclusively for the use of the occupants of the house, to the rear or to the side of the house to less than 25 square metres."

4 metres is the max height of an exempted development shed/garage with a pitched roof. The fact that this latest document places a height limit of 2.5 metres for solar arrays may actually be good news in a way as it might mean that they are not being lumped in with exempt sheds, carports and garages And therefore not subject to the cumulative limit of 25 square metres (if you have a 20 square metre detached garage and want to erect a garden shed, you need PP for anything over 5 square metres)

Local authorities can come after people if sheds and solar arrays have been erected that didn't comply with the regulations that were in place at the time. For political and other reasons (e.g. LAs being underresourced and useless), they probably won't. But the new regs won't provide any sort of legal amnesty to those who have existing arrays >12 sq metres without PP.

There was a case in Limerick? where the Council did go after somone who installed more than 12 sq metres without PP, afaik the Council lost that one but I don't know if it set a legal precedent.

Reminder - public consultation closes tomorrow.

Having read the documentation more carefully, I think my initial concern about detached sheds/garages eating into the exemption limit for solar ground arrays was unfounded.

Still, the exemption limit of 25 sq metres for ground arrays is small and should be raised IMO

Over two months since the closing date for receipt of submissions and still, "Consultation is being reviewed". No hurry at all lads - I suppose when you have already farted about on an issue for years, months are no time at all. We're only in a climate emergency and energy crisis. And shur, it'll be Halloween and Christmas soon and the civil servants will be off then.

Solar panel installers are currently snowed under with work and the vast majority of setups now being installed do not comply with current planning regulations. Is the SEAI acting as some sort of pseudo planning authority by denying grants to people who don't leave 50 cm between their panels and the edge of their roof?

Yet another Irish farce.

Yeah, I phrased that badly, I knew that the 50 cm setback was also part of the new draft regs. The point I was trying to make was that the only state agency "enforcing" any of the solar panel requirements in the existing planning regs is the SEAI via non payment of grants if the 50 cm setback isn't observed. A farcical situation and typical of this country - regs not fit for purpose so instead of updating them in a timely manner, feet are dragged and the existing regs are not enforced - not that the inept County Councils would have the resources to enforce them even if they wanted to.

And as per Peter Burke's office the regs will be updated in the coming months. That means next year.