Do You Pay Tax on Solar Export Income in Ireland?

Most Irish households do not pay tax on the money they earn from exporting solar electricity, because the first €400 of microgeneration profit each year is exempt from income tax, USC and PRSI. Budget 2027 will raise that exemption to €600 from the 2027 tax year. The exemption is automatic for qualifying domestic microgeneration, but it has conditions, and households that export a lot, rent out a property or run a business need to understand where the line sits.

This article is general information, not tax advice. The exemption depends on where you live and how the property is used, so confirm your own position with Revenue or an accountant.

How Does the Microgeneration Tax Exemption Work?

The exemption applies to profits from the microgeneration of electricity at the home where you live. In practice, that means the payments you receive from your supplier for exporting solar power under the Clean Export Guarantee.

At the time of writing November 2026, the rules are:

• The first €400 of profit per tax year is exempt from income tax, USC and PRSI.
• The exemption is in place for the 2022 to 2028 tax years, and the €400 figure has applied since 2024.
• Budget 2027 will increase the disregard from €400 to €600 from the 2027 tax year.
• The exemption follows the person who lives at the property: it applies to an individual who generates electricity at their sole or main residence and is named on the electricity bill, whether they own the property or rent it.

The word profit matters. If you have genuine expenses directly associated with generating and exporting the electricity, they reduce the profit before the exemption is applied. For most homeowners, the payment from the supplier is the only figure that matters because there are no separately claimed expenses.

What Counts as Export Income?

Export income is the money your electricity supplier pays you for units you send to the grid. It is not the same as the savings from self-consumed solar, which never appear as income at all.

• Self-consumed solar units reduce your bill and are not taxable.
• Exported units are paid under the Clean Export Guarantee at a rate set by your supplier.
• Deemed export payments, where a supplier pays an assumed share of generation, are treated the same way for tax purposes.
• A grant from SEAI is not income and is not taxable.

If your supplier pays you about 18 to 20 cent per exported kWh, €400 of income corresponds to roughly 2,000 to 2,200 exported units a year. A typical Irish home with a 4 kWp system exports a few hundred to a couple of thousand units, depending on how much it uses during the day, so many households stay under the limit without trying. At the €600 figure, the same maths gives roughly 3,000 to 3,300 units.

What Changes in 2027?

Budget 2027 raises the annual disregard from €400 to €600 from the 2027 tax year, which gives a household more headroom before any tax is due. The change was announced as part of the Budget package in October 2026 and applies to the microgeneration exemption rather than to the SEAI grant.

*Figures correct as of November 2026. Confirm the start date and conditions with Revenue or your tax adviser.*

The practical effect is modest for most homes, because few export more than €400 worth in a year. It matters more for larger arrays, households with a battery that shifts export into peak periods, and anyone exporting from more than one system.

Do You Need to Declare Export Income?

If your total microgeneration profit stays under the exemption, there is generally no need to declare it, and the exemption applies without a claim. If you already file a return for other reasons, the safest approach is to keep the figures to hand in case the question arises.

You should look at declaring if:

• Your export income exceeds the exemption in a tax year.
• The system is installed on a property that is not your sole or main residence, such as a rental you let or a business premises.
• You receive export payments from more than one supplier or property, so the totals need adding together.

In those cases, the income is taxable in the normal way, and it should be included in your return. Revenue publishes guidance on the exemption, and an accountant can confirm the treatment for a portfolio of properties.

What About Landlords and Businesses?

The domestic exemption follows the person who lives at the property, so the position changes when the property is let or used for business.

• A landlord who installs solar on a rental property is generally outside the exemption, because the property is not their sole or main residence. The tenant who lives there and is named on the bill may qualify instead.
• A business that exports electricity is outside the domestic exemption and should treat payments as trading income.
• A farm or commercial premises has separate SEAI supports and separate tax treatment.

The grant and the tax exemption are also separate. Receiving the €1,800 solar grant or the €600 battery grant does not affect the exemption, and the exemption does not affect grant eligibility.

What Records Should You Keep?

Good records make the exemption easy to use and easy to defend.

• Keep your supplier statements showing export payments and the rate applied.
• Keep the inverter or monitoring app export totals for each year, since they show the units behind the payment.
• Keep the grant approval and the installer's commissioning documents.
• Note the date the system was commissioned, because the first year may be partial.
• If you switch supplier, keep both sets of statements.

A simple folder or spreadsheet with the annual export total and the amount paid is enough for most households. If you export close to the limit, check the total in December rather than discovering it the following year.

Does the Exemption Apply to Battery Owners?

Yes, in the sense that exporting stored electricity is still microgeneration. A battery does not create a separate tax category, and the same annual limit applies to the combined export from the solar and battery system.

What a battery does change is the amount you can export, because it lets you store daytime generation and send it to the grid in the evening. That can push a household closer to the limit, particularly with a large array and a tariff that pays more for evening export.

Final Thoughts

For most Irish homes, solar export income is tax free, and the Budget 2027 increase to €600 makes that more comfortable. The exemption is simple if you keep your supplier statements and stay under the limit, and it becomes a tax question for landlords, businesses and unusually large exporters. Check the figures once a year, and the paperwork stays small.

Ready to Size a System With Export in Mind?

WattCharger designs solar and battery systems around how much you use, how much you export and what your supplier pays, so the tax and the tariff both work in your favour. Book a free consultation and we will show you the numbers for your roof. Start with our solar panel service, read our guide to export payments, or check the amounts in our SEAI grants guide.