Activ8 Solar Energies Blog

As we celebrate World Quality Week 2024, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on the power of quality management in navigating complexity and driving outstanding performance in today’s dynamic business world. At Activ8 Energies, quality has always been more than a compliance exercise, it's the cornerstone of our mission to deliver excellence in every project, product, and service.

We are thrilled to announce that Activ8 Solar Energies has officially been awarded the prestigious Guaranteed Irish symbol, a testament to our unwavering commitment to sustainability, local community support, and Irish provenance.

2023 was a landmark year for renewable energy, with record-breaking achievements in green electricity generation. Wind and solar farms across Ireland produced more clean power than ever before. But despite this progress, there’s a growing concern that the impact of these advancements is being diluted.

Activ8 isn't just celebrating; it's setting the benchmark and calling for change. The company is proud to announce its triumph at the 2024 Deloitte Ireland’s Best Managed Companies Awards, proving that sustainability and success go hand-in-hand. This prestigious win spotlights Activ8’s exceptional growth, relentless innovation, and a company culture that sparks progress, solidifying its position as a trailblazer in the renewable energy arena.

Choose your solar installer carefully. Experiences like Richard’s are increasingly common with over 450 solar installers now registered in Ireland.

Activ8 Energies, a trailblazer in Ireland's solar energy sector today announces a strategic partnership with Duracell Energy, leaders in smart storage solutions. The partnership unites two industry leaders with a shared commitment to a greener future.

International Women's Day is a global day celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement. IWD gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.

In 2023, solar power in the European Union skyrocketed to unprecedented heights, reaching a remarkable capacity of 56GW, according to a new report from Solar Power Europe. This marks the third year of annual growth rates of at least 40%. This surge represents a significant increase from the previous year, showcasing the continued growth of solar energy.

Activ8 Solar Energies, a pioneering force in the solar industry, has been honoured as Business All-Star Solar Energy Company of the Year 2024, an accolade bestowed by the esteemed All-Ireland Business Foundation.

In the ever-evolving landscape of renewable energy, the story of Charles Fritts stands as a pivotal chapter. Often hailed as the father of solar power, Fritts made history in 1883 by creating the world's first solar panel. This ground-breaking invention laid the foundation for the solar technology that powers our world today.

What a day we had our Connection offsite day at Castleknock Hotel for the entire Activ8 team on Friday 5th January. This was a historic day for us. It was the first day we as a company had all of our employees in the one room. Our employees travelled from our offices and bases all across the country to connect.

Portugal achieved a ground-breaking milestone by powering the entire country with renewable energy for a full weekend, showcasing its commitment to sustainability. Solar power, generating 6.6 GWh, played a key role in this success. Portugal aims to generate 80% of its electricity from renewables by 2026 and be entirely renewable-powered by 2040.

Solar power has gained significant popularity in recent years, and for a good reason. It's an abundant, clean, and sustainable source of energy that can significantly reduce your carbon footprint while saving you money on energy bills. If you're new to solar power, this guide is here to help you understand the basics and get started on your journey to harnessing the power of the sun. Welcome to Activ8 Energies' Solar Power For Beginners Guide!

At Activ8 Solar Energies, we've always had a vision for a cleaner, greener future. It's not just about providing sustainable energy solutions for our clients but also about practicing what we preach. That's why we're thrilled to announce a major milestone: we've produced more electricity than we consumed at our headquarters in NEXUS N2 Business Park, Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, for four consecutive months - April, May, June, and July 2023. This achievement marks a significant step towards our commitment to sustainability.

Activ8 Solar Energies, Ireland's premier domestic and commercial solar company, today announced the agreement with Monaghan GAA County Board for the sponsorship of both Monaghan’s men’s football and hurling teams for the next three years. The sponsorship sets the stage for an exciting era of growth and development with the GAA in Monaghan.

Activ8 Energies, a prominent solar panel company in Ireland, has announced its strategic acquisition of Allbrite, a leading heat pump company. This move strengthens Activ8's position in renewable energy solutions, combining solar and heat pump expertise. The merger supports Ireland's Climate Action Plan, targeting 600,000 heat pump installations by 2030. With Activ8's support, Allbrite aims to become the country's largest heat pump installer, expecting rapid growth and job creation. The partnership reflects shared values and a commitment to a sustainable future, offering comprehensive energy solutions for Ireland's communities.

In recent news, it has been reported that the government is in the process of announcing a new grant scheme to support businesses in installing solar PV panels. The scheme, proposed by Minister Eamon Ryan and Minister Simon Coveney, will offer tiered grants ranging from €2,700 to €162,500 for the installation of panels and associated infrastructure on non-residential commercial and public sector buildings.

Solar panels offer businesses cost savings, ROI, tax incentives, environmental impact, and energy independence. By generating electricity from the sun, businesses reduce costs and dependence on the grid, showcasing sustainability commitment, attracting eco-conscious customers, and ensuring uninterrupted power supply during outages.

SSE Airtricity, along with our team here at Activ8, have launched a new solar product that will ensure customers are paid a market leading 34c per kWh for excess solar energy produced and exported back to the grid. New and existing SSE Airtricity customers who have had their solar panels installed with Activ8 from April 13, 2023, will be eligible to be paid a premium of 10 cent per kWh exported on top of the current 24 cent export rate, for two years.

With a zero rate of VAT now available to consumers, it is sought to reduce the average cost of the supply and installation of solar panels for customers by €1,000 and would thus help support households reducing their electricity bills, according to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. The Department of Finance has estimated that the measure will cost €19 million annually.

We want to take this opportunity to reflect on the forthcoming introduction of a 0% VAT rate on solar and what that means for customers, installers and all of those interested in solar panel installations in 2023. Read our statement in full.

Europe has achieved a significant milestone in renewable energy as solar and wind power now account for more than 40% of the region's electricity generation capacity, surpassing gas power for the first time, according to Forbes.This shift towards renewable energy sources is largely driven by government policies supporting clean energy and growing awareness of the environmental impact of fossil fuels.

According to a new report, solar power within the European Union saw a significant increase of almost 50% in 2022. This impressive growth is a testament to the increasing adoption of renewable energy sources and the commitment of EU member states to reduce their carbon emissions by implementing government incentives and initiatives to help support solar energy growth.

We are absolutely delighted to welcome the news that all domestic solar and certain non-domestic solar is now planning exempt. This is great news for homeowners and businesses that want to contribute to Ireland’s climate change efforts by adding solar panels to their rooftops allowing them to produce clean, green electricity to power their homes and businesses.

We were absolutely delighted to welcome, An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin to officially open our new state-of-the-art headquarters in the NEXUS N2 Business Park in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. The home of Ireland's largest installer of solar panels, the new 20,000-square-foot facility is a leading commercial building in terms of energy efficiency and renewable energy production. The A1 energy-rated building is one of the first NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) commercial buildings in the County of Monaghan.

Are solar panels worth it in Ireland? We want to help you understand why solar panels are worth the investment here in Ireland and explain the long-term benefits and savings of a solar panel installation this year.

Earth Day 2022 gives us a chance to reflect on the Climate Action Plan here in Ireland how important it is for us to tackle climate change before it is too late. At a national, local and personal level.

Microgeneration is set to take a step forward with the introduction of the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) for all solar PV users, meaning homeowners will get paid for the electricity they produce that they sell back to the grid.

With over 15 years of experience in the Irish solar industry, we understand it can be difficult to navigate the procurement process of the right solar panel installer. Here are a few pointers.

‍In a welcome development, the Irish government, through Minister Eamon Ryan (Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications) announced that the design and consultation process was beginning in order to formulate how the scheme will look and function. Submissions for this are being accepted until Thursday February 18th.

With the year that we’ve had and the inability for us to have our usual social club outings, we used our social club fund for a Christmas Draw bonanza. And more importantly, we wanted to support as many local businesses as possible. As the scramble comes for last-minute Christmas presents please try and support these local businesses if you can.

With the announcements came cause for celebration for us here in Activ8 Solar Energies as we were involved with four finalists, three of them ultimately winning. We are delighted that Activ8 customers have experienced success at the SEAI Energy Awards show as a result of Activ8 solar panels installed on their premises.

The ISEA Conference 2020 took place on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th of this week. The event of course had to be held virtually but with great event management in place, it was a resounding success. With that said, we were delighted to presenting at the event for a fourth year running.

As the solar partner of SSE Airtricity, we were only delighted to be involved in such a wonderful scheme that will truly make a difference. As installers on the project alongside SSE Airtricity Energy Services...

It would be remiss of me to receive this award without a tone of caution in writing to our customers and followers as we celebrate this accolade. This award is down to the hard work and consistency of our staff over many, many years. This will be the 14th year of existence for what is Activ8 Solar Energies...

Working in partnership with SSE Airtricity and Activ8 Solar Energies, Glanbia Ireland are launching this renewable solar energy solution to market. FarmGen has combined the collective knowledge, experience and expertise of all parties to bring a turn-key solar powered energy solution to Glanbia Ireland farmers.

We were truly delighted to announce that we had officially secured ISO 9001:2008 accreditation through the National Standards Authority of Ireland back at the beginning of 2016. We showed through customer testimonials what this quality control meant for our customers. Well, we didn’t rest on our laurels.

The SEAI brought in the new solar PV grant for homeowners in July of this year and what a difference it has made. We had been lobbying for such measures over the past number of years and to be fair to the powers that be, they listened.

Just two years ago, amid celebrations and excessive PR, the Paris climate accords were signed and we discussed the topic on this very website at the time of the event itself— bringing optimism across the globe, as to the future of climate change and how we, as a planet, would tackle the challenge and make efforts to secure our future on earth.

It was great to be invited to speak at the Solar Ireland 2018 event this week by the Irish Solar Energy Association. Having worked alongside the ISEA over the past number of years and having spoke at the event last year as a company, it was great to be invited along this year to discuss the solar PV landscape in Ireland in 2018, amongst other things.

It’s with great pleasure that we welcome the solar panels grant announced today by the SEAI. As one of the leading advocates of solar PV in Ireland we have seen many false dawns in previous years. We have sat on many boards discussing the benefits and possible pitfalls of introducing an incentive, as well as speaking at solar events sharing our experience in other markets and countries.

As a key stakeholder in the Irish Solar Industry, this week is a very interesting one indeed.Today I travel to a number of meetings with many like-minded people within my industry, to see if we can form a strong, stable and exciting incentive to help us move past the label of Europe’s solar laggards.

The last few days have been very active on the commercial front for myself and my family with the announcement that SSE Airtricity has invested in a 40% stake of Activ8 Solar Energies.

SSE Airtricity has entered into an agreement to acquire 40 percent of Activ8 Solar Energies. Under the terms of the agreement SSE Airtricity will have an option to acquire an additional 10 percent shareholding in Activ8 Solar Energies after two years.

In 2007 the OECD, a rich-world think-tank, sounded the alarm. It projected that, of 666 Alpine ski resorts, roughly 40% would no longer get enough snow to operate a 100-day season (a rule of thumb for making money) if the region warmed by another 2°C. Roughly 70% might go if it warmed by 4°C.

New data unveiled this week show that extreme weather events have become more frequent over the past 36 years, with a significant uptick in floods and other hydrological events compared even with five years ago, according to a new publication, “Extreme weather events in Europe: Preparing for climate change adaptation: an update on EASAC’s 2013 study” by the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC)

Further growing the trend of energy research in Ireland and Europe as a whole, Micheál Scanlon of UL has received a European Research Council Starting Grant of €1.5 million to further his research into clean energy, specifically pushing the science involved in solar photovoltaic.

Donald Trump is making a mockery of our planet, its future and also the underlying theme of “Make America Great Again”. By pulling America out of the Paris Agreement, he is making America’s outlook on science, technology and green energy “draconian”.

Wuxi Suntech, Activ8 Solar Energies primary solar PV panel supplier has recently received high recognition for the quality of the product they provide. The quality of their components is precisely why we use their solar photovoltaic panels.

Here at Activ8 Solar Energies, this is an exciting development, given the strong growth of the Irish solar PV market in line with commercial interest in the renewable technology alongside the installation of solar PV panels on new housing developments across Ireland.

The official body for sustainable and renewable energy here in Ireland, the SEAI, released their official national energy statistics on November 23rd. The report shows that there had been significant growth in energy use across almost all sectors of the Irish economy in 2015. Energy in Ireland 1990-2015, illustrates the first significant growth in energy use since 2010 at almost 5%.

With our friends across the Atlantic Ocean flocking to the polls and electing Donald Trump, the planet and the environmental issues that face us both in the present and the future were not important enough for consideration when Americans were deciding which candidate they voted for. Not only is the election of Donald Trump a disaster for environmentally conscious people in America, it is a disaster for climate change globally.

Activ8 Solar Energies has been working with GREENoneTEC for over 10 years, with Activ8 CEO Ciaran Marron establishing the relationship back in 2006. It proved be a very successful relationship for both parties. During the intervening time, GREENoneTEC has become the largest supplier flat plate solar panels in the world while Activ8 became the largest solar installer in Ireland also.

One of our most recent installations, a 197 solar PV panel installation in Courtown, Co. Wexford is an indication of where the future of energy is heading here in Ireland. Solar panel installation continues to grow and the expected production of our system at Courtown Leisure Centre can act as a case in point of how commercially viable solar photovoltaic has become for Irish businesses

Andy’s Bar & Restaurant in Monaghan Town featured in the Irish Independent as one of Ireland’s first ‘eco pubs’. It was great to see the family owned establishment getting national media attention given their environmental efforts in the running of their business.

Although we may not agree with everything that is done across the Irish Sea, we have to admire the UK’s commitment to renewable energy production. Through our sister company, Solar NI, we have been able to play a small part in the recently released figures that showed renewable energy accounting for more energy production than coal, for the first time in history.

There is a reason we work with specific partners and suppliers in the solar industry. We value quality, efficiency and performance above all else. That is also the reason why we chased ISO 9001 accreditation in 2015 with such purpose.

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Denis Naughten said the department would be known as the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment when the transfer of functions from the previous Department of Environment, Community and Local Government was completed.

Our General Manager Aidan Marron, along with our Installation Manager Stephen Duffy, attended the recent NSAI event where a number of companies were awarded their NSAI certificates. We were there to collect our ISO 9001 Accreditation for our Quality Management Systems.

We recently featured in a piece covering the installation of an Activ8 Solar PV System on the roof of St. Clare’s Abbey Primary & Nursery School in Co. Down, one of our latest Solar PV installations. Gary Connolly, from our PV department discussed the challenges that presented themselves during the initial construction of this project.

With emissions attributed to the transport and agriculture sectors set to increase over the coming years, our ability as a nation to meet the specified EU greenhouse gas targets for 2020 has been brought into question once again by the Environmental Protection Agency.

On the back of recent news concerning our ISO 9001 Accreditation, it is with great delight that we can announce a recent deal we signed with Joule, an Irish company delivering excellence in the manufacturing and production of cylinders. Incorporating Joule cylinders as part of the Activ8 Solar package allows us as an Irish company to partner up with another Irish company to deliver a high quality product as part of a high quality service.

‍We spoke recently at our delight in attaining ISO 9001 accreditation, something that most people recognise. When people see the ISO stamp, they know they are dealing with a well-oiled organisation rather than a one-man band. The ISO 9001 is an accolade that directly reflects our commitment to our “Quality Management Systems”.

It has emerged, in line with the yearly trends, that 2015 was the hottest year that the planet Earth as a whole has experienced since the creation of reliable records in 1880. As a company positioned in the renewable energy business, this brings up a number of questions, issues and general discussion points about how statistics like this effect what we at Activ8 Solar Energies do as a company.

We are delighted to announce that we have officially secured ISO 9001 accreditation through the National Standards Authority of Ireland. This accreditation, ISO 9001 is awarded to companies for exceptional Quality Management Systems, strengthening our reputation within the Irish solar industry for our dedication to quality of service.

We were recently featured in the Irish Examiner with the newspaper highlighting poor representation at the COP 21 in Paris, but more importantly, showcasing Irish consumers willingness to go green.

Ireland is in a strong position currently thanks to our growing economy. Evidence of this was seen in the generous nature of the most recent budget. It would have been possible for the government to increase incentives and really push an agenda of change in relation to climate change and our 2020 targets, with a view to reaching our 2030 targets also.

In 2013, the Irish Government launched the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) scheme which gives a Tax Credit of 13.5% off the price of home improvement works carried out on your home. And with Activ8 Solar Energies as a Qualifying Contractor, solar panel installations meet the home improvement criteria perfectly, making now the right time to take advantage of the scheme and save some money.

Through Activ8 Solar Energies we have created a sustainable business model in the solar thermal industry, with thousands of installs and continued business growth throughout the downturn. We have seen other companies come and go in the tough economical climate of the recession.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) recently released new data revealing the extent to which the production of renewable energy in Ireland has helped cut the carbon content of electricity production. The exact figure revealed amounts to a total of 2.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions were avoided in 2014 as a direct result of the embracing of renewable and sustainable electricity.

A small grant similar to that of solar thermal could see a considerable growth of the Solar PV industry.