How do you sell EV chargers to your solar PV customers?

Why are solar PV customers good EV charger prospects?

Existing solar customers already know you, you have been to the property, and the charger grant does not depend on the customer owning a car, so the sale does not have to wait for a car purchase.

Electric car registrations are rising. According to SIMI, 35,195 new electric cars were registered from January to September 2026, up 57.3% on the 22,376 in the same period of 2025, while total new car registrations rose 5.4% to 128,288. Those are national figures and say nothing about your own customers, so ask each household. The guide to EV charger demand in Ireland looks at the wider market.

Are the solar and charger grants separate?

Yes. SEAI runs them as two schemes with their own amounts, conditions and deadlines, so check each one on SEAI's site for the home in question rather than assuming one follows from the other.

Source: SEAI, solar electricity grant and EV home charger grant pages, as of November 2026.

The table shows SEAI's standard amounts and the points that matter when you sell, as of November 2026. It does not cover the enhanced solar PV grants for some homeowners receiving qualifying welfare payments and for some Dublin RASP homes. The full conditions are on the SEAI solar electricity grant page and the SEAI EV home charger grant page. SEAI decides each application on its own conditions and they change, so ask SEAI if a particular home is unclear.

The charger grant asks for a Safe Electric-registered electrician. SEAI's route for solar PV installers already requires registration as a Registered Electrical Contractor with Safe Electric, so you probably have that in place already. Whether your firm wants to take on charger work is covered in the guide to becoming an EV charger installer.

SEAI also accepts charger grant applications from companies acting for the resident, once the company's CRO number has been sent to SEAI. The steps are in the guide to third-party applications for the SEAI charger grant.

When should you raise the charger in a solar sale?

Raise it once, at the site survey, as a question about the household's next car. Ask before you finalise the quote so the answer can shape the design, and do not hold up the solar job while the customer decides.

This suits new solar customers, including those who reach you through an intermediary such as Smart Solar, which passes solar PV enquiries from private homeowners on to installers and installs nothing itself. The same question fits when you qualify solar leads before the visit. A sequence to follow:

1. Ask one open question. "Is an electric car likely in the next few years?" is enough. If the answer is no, move on and do not raise it again on the same visit.
2. Look at the charger position while you are there. Note where the consumer unit is, where the car parks and roughly how far the cable would run. You are on site anyway, and the notes make a later quote faster.
3. Explain the grant in one sentence. The charger grant does not require an EV, so the charger can go in before the car arrives. Say that SEAI decides each application.
4. Leave it as an option. Put the charger on the quote as its own line instead of pushing for an answer on the day.
5. Keep the two timelines apart. The solar grant needs approval before work starts and gives 8 months to finish. The charger grant gives 6 months from the offer. Do not delay the solar installation to line them up.

It costs one question at a survey you already do and one extra line on a quote you already write. The real work starts when the customer says yes: the charger visit, the product choice and the grant paperwork, so decide who submits the SEAI application before you quote.

Some energy suppliers sell charger packages that include installation, so a solar customer may already have seen one. The guide to competing with energy supplier charger offers covers how to respond.

How do you contact past solar customers about a charger?

Contacting past customers to offer them a charger is likely to count as electronic direct marketing. The Data Protection Commission says calls, text messages and emails of that kind are regulated by S.I. 336/2011 alongside GDPR. Read its guidance and the regulations before you start a campaign, and see the guide to contacting leads legally for the practical side.

How do you quote solar and a charger together?

Send one document with two separately priced parts. Show the charger as its own optional line, show each grant as money the homeowner may receive from SEAI, and confirm the VAT rate for each part before you send it.

1. Name the charger. State the make and model, and check the model is on SEAI's Smart Charger Register, because the grant requires it.
2. Price it separately. An optional line lets the customer say yes to the solar system and decide on the charger later.
3. Show each grant on its own line, as possible, not certain. "Up to €300, subject to SEAI approval" is accurate as of November 2026. Do not present it as a discount from you.
4. State the VAT rate on each part. See below.
5. Say who applies. The homeowner can apply, or you can as a third party if SEAI already has your CRO number.
6. Set out the order of events. Solar approval first, then installation within its 8 months. The charger runs on its own 6-month clock from the offer.

If the customer also wants a battery, that is a separate upsell with its own grant, covered in selling solar batteries.

What about VAT on the charger?

Do not assume the zero rate applies. Revenue's manual does not name EV chargers, so show the charger as a separate line and confirm the rate with Revenue or your accountant before you quote.

Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual zero-rates the supply and installation of solar panels on a private dwelling, and ancillary equipment such as wiring, the controller, the combiner box and batteries when it is in the same supply-and-install contract. Where the contract includes other fixtures, the manual says they are taxed at the appropriate rate.

The manual was last reviewed in May 2025, and its list of ancillary equipment is not exhaustive. Treat the charger's rate as unconfirmed until Revenue or your accountant says otherwise. The guide to VAT on solar installations covers the wider rules.

Typical cross-selling mistakes

• Pitching a charger to every customer. A household with no car plans hears a sales pitch. Ask first, once.
• Assuming the two grants work alike. They are separate schemes with separate rules and timelines, so keep the solar installation on its own schedule.
• Quoting a charger that is not on the Smart Charger Register. The grant requires a listed model.
• Assuming the zero VAT rate. The manual does not name chargers.
• Promising the grant. Quote it as "up to €300, subject to SEAI approval".
• Promising running-cost savings. Leave solar-charging and payback claims out of the quote unless you can base them on the customer's own tariff and usage.
• Messaging past customers without checking the rules. Direct marketing rules apply before you send the first email.

For the wider picture on charger work, start with the EV charger installer guide.