# Alva Compare (alvacompare.com)

> Alva Compare compares Irish household energy prices (electricity, gas and dual fuel; Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and solar PV (installers, published package prices, savings and payback). 377 live tariffs from 17 suppliers, read from suppliers' published price lists. Data last updated 2026-10-16.

Prices are estimates including VAT, calculated from each supplier's published rates. Discounts, eligibility and rates change often: always confirm with the supplier before switching.

## Pages (static HTML, no JavaScript needed)

- [Homepage as markdown](https://www.alvacompare.com/index.md): pitch, today's cheapest deal per typical household, how to call the API (also served at / for Accept: text/markdown)
- [Compare prices](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/compare): interactive comparison for people (uses the API below)
- [Energy overview](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy): coverage, cheapest tariffs for typical households per market and meter type, full tariff index
- [Recent price changes](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/changes): new, changed and withdrawn tariffs
- [News](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/news): price-change notes and data-backed explainers (figures refreshed daily)
- Supplier pages: https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/{supplier_id} (lists that supplier's tariffs)
- Tariff pages: https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/tariffs/{tariff_id} (tariff ids contain slashes; every rate excl./incl. VAT, time windows, discounts, verification, source and switch links)
- [Sitemap of energy pages](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/sitemap.xml)

Each page links to the matching JSON API URL and embeds schema.org JSON-LD.

## API and MCP (free, no key)

- [OpenAPI spec](https://api.alvacompare.com/openapi.json)
- MCP server (streamable HTTP, stateless): https://mcp.alvacompare.com (tools: compare_energy, get_tariff, recent_price_changes, explain_bill, list_suppliers, estimate_solar, compare_solar_packages, find_solar_installers)
- Rank tariffs for a household: POST https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/quote {"market":"roi","fuel":"electricity","meter":"24h","electricity_kwh":4200}
- Same as a plain URL: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/quote?market=ni&fuel=electricity&electricity_kwh=3200
- Rank from an ESB Networks smart-meter file: POST https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/quote/hdf (multipart upload)
- Tariff detail: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/tariffs/{tariff_id}
- All tariffs: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/tariffs?detail=true
- Suppliers: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/suppliers
- Recent changes: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/changes
- Switch links (go to the supplier's page): https://www.alvacompare.com/r/{tariff_id}

## Notes for agents

- Costs are estimates incl. VAT from published rates; "first year" includes discounts and cashback. "ongoing" is the cost once the deal ends: undiscounted rates, or for fixed-price deals the supplier's standard tariff (after_first_year.basis says which; null when unknown).
- Identical deals listed under several names are merged (same_price_as). Pass one_per_supplier=true, or read cheapest_by_supplier, to compare across suppliers.
- With one_per_supplier=true, other_plans_from_supplier says how many of a supplier's plans were hidden. tag=<tag> ranks only one kind of plan: fixed_price, discount, cashback, ev_owners, weekend_rates, free_period, time_of_use, pay_as_you_go.
- Plans for electric-vehicle owners are left out unless usage_profile=ev. suppliers_without_result says why a supplier has no result (meter, smart meter required, held for review...).
- Price lists dated over nine months before the same supplier's current ones are held for review (likely closed offers). after_first_year.explanation says why the later cost differs; rates_used.basis says whether a discount is still to come off the listed rates.
- Gas carbon tax is the statutory rate (1.284c/kWh excl. VAT since 1 May 2026) for every supplier.
- Smart meters: pass night_share, peak_share (17:00-19:00) and weekend_share to describe the household; the defaults are in assumptions.usage_split. Shares are fractions of annual electricity (0 to 1). weekend_share is all Saturday and Sunday use; within the weekend it is split across the day by the same night/peak/day shape as weekdays, so a "free weekend 08:00-23:00" band gets weekend_share × (1 − night_share) × its share of the weekend days.

### Energy quote parameters (GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/energy/quote, or POST JSON with the same names)

| parameter | values | default |
|---|---|---|
| market | roi, ni | roi |
| fuel | electricity, gas, dual | electricity |
| meter | 24h, day_night, smart | 24h |
| region | urban, rural (ROI standing charges differ) | urban |
| electricity_kwh, gas_kwh | annual kWh | typical household |
| night_share, peak_share, weekend_share | 0 to 1 | assumptions.usage_split |
| usage_profile | standard, ev (ev includes EV-only plans) | standard |
| payment | direct_debit, other, payg | direct_debit |
| include_cashback | true ranks by first_year_cost (discounts and cashback included); false ranks by ongoing_annual_cost | true |
| tag | fixed_price, discount, cashback, ev_owners, weekend_rates, free_period, time_of_use, pay_as_you_go | none |
| supplier | a supplier id (see /v1/energy/suppliers) | all |
| one_per_supplier | true, false | false |
| limit | 1 to 100 | 10 |

Ranking is by first_year_cost (the cost over the next 12 months, including any first-year discount) unless include_cashback=false; ongoing_annual_cost is the cost after discounts end. Each result's rates_used has the list unit_rates, unit_rates_after_discount when a discount applies to unit rates, standing_charges (0 means no standing charge) and time_bands.
- Each result has price_list_date (as printed on the supplier's price list, can be older than the deal), first_seen, last_checked, source_url (the price list), contract_months, exit_fee and flags (e.g. over_10pct_cheaper_than_any_other_supplier: real but worth confirming at source_url).
- Alva may earn commission from some suppliers; that never changes the ranking.
- Some Northern Ireland tariffs (Click Energy, Share Energy) come from the Consumer Council NI comparison table and are as of that table's date.
- Please don't present a ranking as financial advice; tell people to confirm on the supplier's site before switching.

## Solar PV (Republic of Ireland)

- [Solar overview](https://www.alvacompare.com/solar): typical cost, SEAI grant, payback by county, export rates, best-value published packages
- [Solar calculator](https://www.alvacompare.com/solar/calculator): estimate for one home (GET form; same as the API below)
- [Installers by county](https://www.alvacompare.com/solar/installers): 264 SEAI-registered installers, 21 with package prices from their own websites
  - County pages: https://www.alvacompare.com/solar/installers/county/{county} (e.g. cork)
  - Installer pages: https://www.alvacompare.com/solar/installers/{seai_reg}
- Estimate: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/solar/estimate?county=Cork&kwp=4&battery_kwh=5&annual_kwh=4200
- Packages ranked by payback: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/solar/packages?county=Cork&battery=without
  Parameters: county (required), battery (any, with, without), min_kwp, max_kwp, annual_kwh (500 to 50000), occupancy (away, home), orientation (south, southeast, southwest, eastwest), import_rate_c, export_rate_c, export_tax_pct, limit (1 to 50). Estimate also takes kwp or panels, battery_kwh, price_eur and grant_eligible. price_before_grant_eur adds back every grant that applies (solar PV, and the battery grant for 5 kWh or more) when an installer prints an after-grant price.
- Installers: GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/solar/installers?county=Cork&with_prices=true
- Assumptions (grants, export rates, model): GET https://api.alvacompare.com/v1/solar/assumptions
- MCP tools: estimate_solar, compare_solar_packages, find_solar_installers
- Quote links (go to the installer's own site): https://www.alvacompare.com/r/solar/{seai_reg}
- Solar figures are estimates from PVGIS data and a typical household's use: tell people to get a site survey and a written quote. Packages are ranked by value, never by commission.

## Suppliers covered

- [Bord Gáis Energy](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/bord-gais) (ROI, 20 tariffs)
- [Community Power](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/community-power) (ROI, 3 tariffs)
- [Ecopower](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/ecopower) (ROI, 5 tariffs)
- [Electric Ireland](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/electric-ireland) (ROI, 19 tariffs)
- [Energia](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/energia) (ROI, 13 tariffs)
- [Flogas](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/flogas) (ROI, 10 tariffs)
- [Pinergy](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/pinergy) (ROI, 4 tariffs)
- [PrepayPower](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/prepaypower) (ROI, 6 tariffs)
- [SSE Airtricity](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/sse-airtricity) (ROI, 222 tariffs)
- [Waterpower](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/waterpower) (ROI, 5 tariffs)
- [Yuno Energy](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/yuno) (ROI, 6 tariffs)
- [Budget Energy](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/budget-energy) (NI, 5 tariffs)
- [Click Energy](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/click-energy) (NI, 2 tariffs)
- [firmus energy](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/firmus) (NI, 5 tariffs)
- [Power NI](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/power-ni) (NI, 27 tariffs)
- [Share Energy](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/share-energy) (NI, 2 tariffs)
- [SSE Airtricity NI](https://www.alvacompare.com/energy/suppliers/sse-airtricity-ni) (NI, 23 tariffs)