There is a lot to be said for a county with no surprises in it. Westmeath sits close to the national average for sunlight, its limestone till drives predictably, and rural sites around Mullingar, Castlepollard and Kinnegad are generally large enough to place an array wherever the sun says it should go.
We install ground-mounted systems for households, farms and small businesses across the county. Nothing here demands unusual engineering, which means the design conversation can stay on the things that actually move output: orientation, tilt, shading and how you use the electricity once it arrives.
A useful benchmark county for expected output
Westmeath takes in about 985 kWh per square metre of horizontal irradiation over a year. A ground mount pitched between 30 and 35 degrees to true south should produce in the region of 915 kWh per kWp annually. With the Irish spread running from roughly 850 to 1,000 kWh per kWp, that places this county squarely in the middle.
Being mid-table is not a weakness. It means the projections behave. There is no coastal exposure penalty to design around and no mountain horizon eating the winter afternoons, so what the model predicts in March is broadly what the inverter reports the following March.
For a household, a 6 kWp array is around 13 or 14 panels at the 440 to 500 W sizes we commonly fit. That will sit comfortably on a corner of a site around Moate or Kilbeggan without dominating the garden, and it is enough to cover a meaningful share of daytime consumption in most homes.
Planning permission and Westmeath County Council
The 2022 exempted development regulations, S.I. 493 of 2022, broadly allow a free-standing solar array inside the curtilage of a house without planning permission. The main limits, in general terms, are an aperture area of no more than 25 square metres for a house, a maximum height of 2.5 metres, a requirement that the array is not placed forward of the front wall of the house, and a restriction on the proportion of private open space it may take up.
Exceptions matter. Protected structures, properties within an Architectural Conservation Area, and sites inside a solar safeguarding zone near an aerodrome are all treated separately. Athlone and Mullingar both hold a good number of protected buildings, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.
We ask you to confirm the position with Westmeath County Council before we order any steel, and we hand over the layout drawing, the array dimensions and the height figures so that call takes five minutes rather than an afternoon.
Till, esker gravel and the bogs west of Kilbeggan
Most of the county is limestone till with esker gravel ridges threading through the lake district. Both are excellent for foundations. Galvanised piles driven into firm till reach consistent resistance, there is no concrete to pour and no spoil to remove, and the frame can go up the same day the posts go in.
The raised bog around Kilbeggan and Moate is the exception, and it is the reason we probe before quoting anywhere near the old bog boundaries. Peat depth varies inside a single field, so one probe at the gate proves nothing. Depending on what comes back we specify long helical ground screws, spread footings or a ballasted frame carrying concrete weight rather than penetrating the ground.
Lakeshore sites near Lough Owel, Lough Ennell and Lough Derravaragh bring their own point: the water table in winter is higher than a dry summer survey suggests, so we design for the wet condition and not the convenient one.
Field or roof, and how we choose between them
Plenty of Westmeath houses have a perfectly serviceable roof. The question is never whether panels will fit on it, but what that roof costs you in output. A south-west facing slope at 20 degrees with a chimney stack and a satellite dish gives away a good deal of what the panels are capable of.
What we weigh up on the day:
- true orientation and pitch of the available roof plane against optimum for the site
- shading from chimneys, dormers, trees and neighbouring buildings through the year
- rafter and purlin capacity, roof age, and whether the covering has a decade left in it
- cable route and distance from the array position back to the consumer unit
- how much of the garden or paddock the frame would take, and what else uses that ground
Where the roof is compromised, a ground mount at optimum pitch and true south typically recovers 10 to 25 per cent more output. On beef and dairy holdings around Castlepollard and Moate the calculation is usually more decisive again, because farm sheds rarely face the right way and rarely have spare structural capacity.
Grid connection, grants and export income
Micro-generation up to 6 kW on a single-phase supply, or 11 kW three-phase, is notified to ESB Networks using the NC6 form. Larger installations require a full connection application. We prepare and submit either, and the straightforward notifications are typically dealt with in a few weeks.
On grant support, the SEAI scheme generally applies to homes built and occupied before 2021, the work has to be carried out by an SEAI-registered company, and a post-works BER assessment is required. The grant value is reviewed and stepped down periodically, so take the current figure from seai.ie rather than from any installer's marketing. We confirm in advance whether a ground-mounted array qualifies on your particular property, since that is not something to discover after the frame is up.
Farmers in the county should look at the Solar Capital Investment Scheme under TAMS III, which carries a 60 per cent grant rate within a separate investment ceiling. Anything you export is paid for under the Clean Export Guarantee, with rates varying by supplier and changing over time, and a micro-generation income tax exemption applies to that income.
Towns and areas we cover in Westmeath
We install right across the county, from Mullingar and Athlone out to Kilbeggan and every townland in between. There is no travel surcharge for being at the far end of the county.
Ground mounted solar in Westmeath: your questions
What annual yield should I expect in Westmeath?
Around 915 kWh per kWp per year from a frame at 30 to 35 degrees facing true south, based on roughly 985 kWh per square metre of annual horizontal irradiation. That is mid-range against the Irish spread of about 850 to 1,000 kWh per kWp, and it is a figure that tends to hold up well in practice here.
My site is on cutaway bog near Kilbeggan. Can you still build?
Yes, but the foundation changes. Peat depth varies within a single field, so we probe on a grid rather than at one corner. Depending on the results we use long helical ground screws, spread footings, or a ballasted frame weighted with concrete instead of penetrating the ground. The array performs identically once it is standing.
Who is the planning authority for Westmeath?
Westmeath County Council. Most domestic free-standing arrays are broadly exempt under the 2022 regulations if they stay within the aperture, height, siting and open-space limits. Protected structures, Architectural Conservation Areas and aerodrome safeguarding zones are handled differently, so confirm your specific address with the council before committing to an order.
Should I put the panels on my roof instead?
Only if the roof is genuinely well oriented, unshaded and structurally sound. If it faces east to west, sits at a shallow pitch, or carries chimneys and dormers across the good half, a frame in the garden set at optimum pitch and true south will usually return 10 to 25 per cent more electricity for the same panels.
What does the SEAI grant involve?
The home generally needs to have been built and occupied before 2021, the installation must be carried out by an SEAI-registered company, and a post-works BER assessment is required. Grant values are reviewed and stepped down periodically, so check the current rate on seai.ie. We confirm that a ground-mounted array qualifies on your property before you commit.
How much maintenance does a ground mounted array need?
Very little. Irish rainfall keeps the glass reasonably clean, so the routine work is an annual visual check of the frame, fixings and cable runs, plus an inverter and string performance review. Everything sits at eye level, so cleaning or replacing a panel is a ladder-free job rather than a scaffold job.
