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James Horan/Photocall Ireland

IKEA is selling solar panels, yay! But not in Ireland, boo!

The company says that customers want to live more sustainably, but there is no word on when they will roll out the panels to Ireland.

IF YOU HAVE ever cursed the Swedish manufacturers of IKEA’s furniture, you probably wouldn’t want them to be responsible for powering your home.

However, the Swedish furniture giants announced earlier this week that they will be selling solar panels at their stores in the UK.

However, the units, which will cost £5,700 will not be available in Ireland.

The company’s head office confirmed to TheJournal.ie that they will examine the possibility of rolling them out into the Irish market, but had not put any time scale on such a move.

At this stage, the roll out is only planned for the UK market.  Once evaluated, we will consider other markets but we don’t have a time scale for this as yet.

The £5,700 solar panels come with in-store consultation and design, as well as installation and maintenance.

Grants of up to €800 are available to homeowners who utilise solar energy in Ireland.

The company will begin selling the units in the Southampton store, but will roll them out across the UK in the coming months.

Joanna Yarrow, IKEA’s head of sustainability in the UK and Ireland, said: “We know that our customers want to live more sustainably and we hope working to make solar panels affordable and easily available helps them do just that.”

The move comes as a UN panel said that they were “95 per cent convinced” that humans had caused climate change.

But, will the report change consumer habits? Let us know what you think:

Will you change your electrical usage because of climate change?


Poll Results:

No (603)
Yes (343)
Don't know (320)

Read:  ‘Extremely likely’ humans caused over half of global warming in the last 60 years

Read: Meteorologist vows to never fly again after climate change report

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44 Comments
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    Mute Alan Lawlor
    Favourite Alan Lawlor
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:24 AM

    If IKEA sold panels which powered my house from clouds and rain, THEN I will get excited and race up the M50 to Ballymun

    63
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    Mute Oisín O'Neill
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 11:32 AM

    Solar panels work quite well in cloudy conditions and actually more efficiently in cool climates than very hot ones.

    22
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    Mute Michelle Mc Loughney
    Favourite Michelle Mc Loughney
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:09 AM

    €800 grant, not exactly enticing.

    55
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    Mute Darragh Flynn
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 8:41 AM

    Better than €0…

    47
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    Mute ryan dobson
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 9:52 AM

    Yes Michelle. The Gornment need to increase the size of grants so that we can buy things.

    21
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    Mute Joey Costello
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 9:55 AM

    Ah here, stop giving out!

    17
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    Mute Patitas
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:09 AM

    We kinda lack of an essential resource for SOLAR panels to work…

    37
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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 8:15 AM

    Solar panels don’t need direct sunlight to work.

    73
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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 11:21 AM

    Do what the Spanish do to generate power at night from their solar. run a diesel generator and use to to power floodlights. The subsidy pays for it all.

    1
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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 11:50 AM

    Spanish newspaper El Mundo found that between November and January, 4500 megawatt hours (MWh) of solar energy were sold to the electricity grid between midnight and seven in the morning.

    It has been suggested that some plants in the regions of Castilla-La-Mancha, Canarias and Andalucía have been using diesel generators connected to their solar panel arrays to illegally benefit from government subsidies.

    2
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    Mute Nun on Yokes
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:12 AM

    Irish weather? It will be interesting to see how they flat pack the sun as a vital accessory.

    34
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    Mute Dec Rowe
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 10:02 AM

    The solar powered lights in my garden don’t seem to have any problems getting power.

    19
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    Mute Matt
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 1:22 PM

    Compared to British weather. We get the same. They will be selling them in Scotland.

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    Mute Donal O Neil
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 6:11 PM

    The power they generate wouldn’t recharge a rampant rabbit

    3
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    Mute Ian Mac Eochagáin
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:08 AM

    They probably realised it wouldn’t be very profitable selling them in Ireland…

    34
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    Mute Emilio
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:57 AM

    And it is in the UK? I hope your comment was a joke

    18
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    Mute Simon O Callaghan
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:44 AM

    Wind power! Now if they sell that I’ll stick one out my bank.

    27
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    Mute Elizabeth Gibson
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:58 AM

    I think sticking one out your back would yield better results.

    51
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    Mute Martin Jones
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 9:11 AM
    7
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    Mute Joan Ruud Donnellan-Wijnen
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:41 AM

    It’s the same with Lidl & Aldi in Holland & Germany, they sell lots of other food products there that they don’t sell in Ireland .. and that’s a pity because they could if they wanted… You can’t buy coffee filters in Aldi in Galway, but you can buy coffee… Pity..

    27
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    Mute Role Model
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:06 AM

    Forget solar panels…. Maybe they should start selling decent furniture??

    23
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    Mute Patitas
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:09 AM

    Don’t get stressed about it, Clerys is reopening soon for you.

    52
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    Mute Role Model
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:14 AM

    I’m not stressed… I took a load of zimmos last night

    9
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    Mute Patitas
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:24 AM

    Send me some… I am after having their meatballs for breakfast!

    13
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    Mute Role Model
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:29 AM

    Licking the puke off the ground in temple bar on a Saturday night is a healthier option than eating their ‘food’

    9
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    Mute Terry Tibbs
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 9:21 AM

    Couldn’t agree more… ikea is like argos.. Just like Tescos finest food range and tesco own brand range. Both are shite.

    5
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    Mute Qwerty
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 11:00 AM

    You get what you pay for. The quality’s not good but it’s dirt cheap.

    5
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    Mute Martin Sinnott
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:15 AM

    They sell very cheap food in their large restraunt.

    22
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    Mute Role Model
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:27 AM

    Comment of the day!! None of us would of ever worked that one out…..

    25
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    Mute Robert Power
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 10:33 AM

    As far as I was aware, the €800 grant available was only available for solar thermal panels and not the PV models being offered by IKEA. The difference between the two is that thermal panels only provide hot water while PV panels provide electricity so can be used to heat water and also power everything else in the home. It’s estimated that worldwide installation of solar modules will be the equivilant of 37 nuclear power plants in 2013.

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    Mute Martin Jones
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 10:44 AM

    Sounds good but it’s a pity that they are so expensive. It takes a good few years to make the pay back on them but hopefully in future they will get cheaper.

    9
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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 11:27 AM

    Even the Chinese manufacturers are going bust as they are selling below cost right now.
    I use a large panel to pump water but you need to have big storage tanks as it can be almost useless in cloudy weather. Handy if you need water for cattle or trees and yer off the grid but a waste of time and money otherwise.

    2
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    Mute Wayne Yore
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 10:58 AM

    Ikea,Belfast

    6
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    Mute William Rowlands
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 7:27 AM

    Insulting really considering the government grant is in situ we must be the lower end of their stores

    6
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    Mute ryan dobson
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 9:55 AM

    Yes i was very insulted reading this. I dont understand why a business is not selling a product. Very insulted and they have lost my custom. I am going to cost plus sofas and buying a solar panel. Very insulting.

    9
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    Mute Marguerite Hoiby
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 10:22 AM

    Wonder why they didnt start the roll out in Oz where there is sun? Does it come with a solar Allen key??????

    5
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    Mute Mystica Kho
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 1:43 PM

    I think it is time to change renewable energy for cleaner environment.

    2
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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 11:24 AM

    The panels last just over 10 years but the payback time is about 20. That’s for the ones which are supposed to generate electricity. The ones to heat water can be made by anyone with a few DIY skills and are very efficient.

    2
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    Mute redmarauder
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    Oct 3rd 2013, 11:39 AM

    Makes sense with the 2 hours sun we get every year , they should make one that runs on Guinness , we have plenty of that!

    1
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    Mute Lynda Murphy
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    Apr 15th 2017, 1:23 PM

    You can make solar panels out of old LCD screens and some double sided tape.
    It’s true

    1
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