Ireland's community grant stops school solar at 2 kWp for a primary and 4 kWp for a secondary - the 4 November answer does not lift the cap, the 50% line is not the business grant, and no battery is named
On 4 November 2026 a Dáil answer left the school solar caps on Ireland's community energy grant where the 2026 guidelines put them: 2 kWp for a primary school and 4 kWp for a secondary. State schools with charitable status can reach up to 50% on that grant. Private schools are at 30%. The answer points schools at the business solar grant, up to €325,200 and 1,000 kWp, and prints a business savings line of up to €300,000 a year. It does not name a battery. It does not print a school bill.
A primary school that wants panels on the roof meets a size line on the community grant. The line is 2 kWp. A secondary school meets 4 kWp. The written answer of 4 November 2026 does not change either line.
kWp is the panel rating under a standard test, like the sticker on a kettle. It is not the power the roof makes on a grey afternoon.
The 2026 Communities Energy Grant application guidelines say SEAI will support primary schools up to 2 kWp and secondary schools up to 4 kWp. Installations outside that range are not supported. The same solar section says solar PV as a single measure is not supported unless self-consumption can be checked on its own, and the solar follows fabric-first upgrades. Grant support for solar PV stops at 500 kW. A larger install may sit in the scheme, and the grant does not pay above that limit. Co-funding with other schemes is not permitted, through SEAI or another organisation.
The percentage is not one number for every school. State schools with charitable status are eligible for up to 50% funding, subject to a prior written agreement. Private or fee-paying schools are at 30% support only. Third-level colleges sit with the public sector, up to 30%. The question on 4 November calls the school limit a block on the "50% public body grant" for a larger array. The guidelines split that percentage by the kind of school. Above 2 kWp or 4 kWp, the guidelines say the installation is not supported, so the 50% line does not attach to a bigger array on this grant.
On 4 November 2026 Deputy Louise O'Reilly put question 7, reference 78181/26, to the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment. The question names the 2 kWp and 4 kWp caps and a review of the guidelines. The written answer says limits apply to school solar under the guidelines, so funding goes toward fabric, heating upgrades and energy management. It says the community programme is for a wider retrofit, and single-measure solar is not a primary focus. The answer does not reprint 2 kWp or 4 kWp. Those figures are in the question and in the guidelines. The answer does not print a new cap.
The answer then names a different counter. From 6 October 2026, for nine months, the grant rate for solar panels under the Non-Domestic Microgeneration Grant, and for solar thermal and heat pumps under the Business Energy Upgrades Scheme, doubled to 45%. The answer says both schemes are open to businesses, farms, public sector bodies, schools, community centres and other non-profits. It prints a maximum of €325,200 for installations of up to 1,000 kWp. It says businesses on the enhanced solar supports can reduce annual energy costs by up to €300,000 a year. That sentence does not show a tariff, a panel count, or a school name. The 6 October note on this desk used SEAI's average of about €12,000 a year for an average installation. The November figure is a different sentence.
The 4 November answer names solar panels, solar thermal and heat pumps. It does not name a battery. The school section of the guidelines does not name a battery.
Appendix I of the same PDF is a home rate card. Private homes show solar PV at €700 per kWp from 0 to 2 kWp and €200 per kWp from 2 to 4 kWp, with the solar grant capped at €1,800. That table is for homes. The school paragraph does not print those euro rates.
The guidelines give a typical split for a school: 60 to 70 percent of energy consumption goes to heating, and 30 to 40 percent to electrical demand, lighting and services. The solar line is on the electric slice. The heating is a different job, and the guidelines list insulation, windows, heat pumps and controls ahead of the panels.
Analogy: 2 kWp is a small house array drawn onto a school roof. The community grant stops at that house-sized line. The business grant is a different counter. The €1,800 home card is a third piece of paper.
Good: A guidelines PDF with the 2 kWp and 4 kWp school lines, the 50% and 30% split, the 500 kW solar limit and the co-funding bar, plus a dated Dáil answer that leaves the school caps in place and points at the other grant.
Bad: The answer does not reprint 2 kWp or 4 kWp. The €300,000 is the minister's ceiling sentence, with no working and no school name. The €12,000 average lives on the October note. The home euro table is a different appendix. No battery is named. This note does not open a letter of offer for a named school.
Ugly: Pasting €700 per kWp onto a school. Treating €300,000 as a school's annual saving. Stacking the community grant and the business grant on the same panels when the guidelines say co-funding is not permitted. Reading 2 kWp as the power a grey afternoon will produce. Adding a battery the pages do not name.
Soft next step: keep 2 kWp and 4 kWp on the community grant, keep 50% for a state school with charitable status and 30% for a private school, and leave a battery off the page until a document names one.
Source: SEAI, National Retrofit Programme Communities Energy Grant application guidelines 2026. Primary for primary schools up to 2 kWp and secondary schools up to 4 kWp, installations outside that range not supported, solar PV not supported as a single measure unless self-consumption is independently verified and fabric-first upgrades come first, grant support for solar PV up to 500 kW, co-funding with other schemes not permitted, state schools with charitable status eligible for up to 50% funding, private or fee-paying schools at 30%, third-level colleges up to 30% as public sector, the typical 60 to 70 percent heating and 30 to 40 percent electrical split, and the Appendix I home solar card of €700 per kWp from 0 to 2 kWp, €200 per kWp from 2 to 4 kWp, capped at €1,800. Houses of the Oireachtas, written answer, 4 Nov 2026, question 7, Deputy Louise O'Reilly, 78181/26. Primary for the question that names the 2 kWp and 4 kWp caps, the answer that limits apply and that single-measure solar is not a primary focus, the doubling to 45% for nine months from 6 October 2026 on the Non-Domestic Microgeneration Grant and on solar thermal and heat pumps under the Business Energy Upgrades Scheme, eligibility including schools, a maximum of €325,200 for up to 1,000 kWp, and the sentence that businesses on the enhanced solar supports can reduce annual energy costs by up to €300,000 a year. The answer does not name a battery and does not print a school invoice. The €12,000 average is the earlier note, Ireland's business solar grant.