Butlers Chocolate in Ireland has installed a 420 kW Solar PV system on the rooftop of its chocolate production headquarters in Dublin. This is one of the largest rooftop solar energy generating system in the country, and a positive investment in a bid to engage with the country’s largely untapped solar PV market.
South Korean PV manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells provided its Q.PRO G4 modules, which numbered 1,590 in total, while the array was installed by Gaelectric Energy Solutions DAC, an Irish EPC partner of Hanwha Q Cells.
The chief aim of the installation is to deliver cheaper energy generation cheaper for Butlers Chocolate, which will allow the firm to lower its overheads and become more competitive. The rooftop array will meet approximately 14% of Butlers Chocolate's base load electricity requirement, said Daire Friel, business development manager for Gaelectric Energy.
For Ireland in general, the installation is yet another step towards helping the country achieve its goals in terms of renewable energy in line with the EU 2030 energy package, which states that all member nations must have at least 27% of their energy generation met by renewables by 2030.
Not only would Ireland be in line with the EU's renewable energy ambitions, but it would allow the country to become cost-competitive with its other energy sectors, which would benefit the economy and the environment, and would proliferate the development of an Irish solar industry capable of mass production and installation of solar PV across the country.
Popular content
According to KPMG in a report to the Irish Solar Energy Association, the deployment of solar PV has the potential to add €2 billion of gross added value to the Irish economy and sustain 7,300 jobs annually, which would also be in line with the government recovery programme after having led the country out of one of the deepest economic crises in the country’s history.
In a recent Friends of the Earth report, climate expert Joseph Curtin argued the positive case for the introduction of a support scheme for residential rooftop PV in Ireland – a path to PV growth seen as eminently viable among most energy experts.
Author: Frederic Brown
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.