16 July 2026

What does a set of solar panels including installation cost in 2026?

From a complete installation to a stand-alone inverter: all price guides in one place, plus the three dials that decide where your quote lands.

A complete solar panel installation in 2026 costs on average € 4,000 to € 12,000. That covers the panels, the mounting system, the inverter, the cabling to the fuse box and the registration of the installation. If you already have panels, other bands apply: expanding an existing installation costs € 1,500 to € 4,000, replacing an inverter € 800 to € 2,000 and preparing a home-battery connection € 350 to € 900. A commercial roof starts around the level of a large residential installation and is tailored work per project above that.

The first dial is the number of panels, and it is by far the biggest. Up to around eight panels you are talking about a modest system that often goes up in half a day; eight to fourteen panels is the common size for a family home; above that you enter the range where a heavier or second inverter comes into play. What you need follows from your yearly consumption and the available roof surface — not from a rule of thumb. If you don't know, choose 'advice wanted' in the request: the installer will then calculate it on your meter readings.

The second dial is the roof. On a pitched tiled roof the panels go on roof hooks and rails under the tiles; that is more labour-intensive per panel, but the tilt angle is a given. On a flat roof the panels sit in ballast frames held in place by weight, without piercing the roofing membrane — there you pay for the frame and the ballast instead of the tile work. The cable route to the fuse box also counts, as does access to the roof surface (ladder, scaffolding or lift) and whether the fuse box has a free circuit.

The third dial is the inverter. A single string inverter for the whole system is the cheapest route and works fine on a shade-free roof surface. If a tree, dormer or chimney gets in the way, or you spread the panels across several roof surfaces, the installer will advise optimizers or micro-inverters — that costs more, but stops one shaded panel from dragging down the yield of an entire string. If you are thinking about a battery, a battery-ready or hybrid inverter is cheaper now than swapping later. Then request several quotes and set them against the price index: for exactly the same job the differences between companies add up, especially when one surveys on site and the other quotes from photos. Expect a regional difference too — Randstad rates run 10-20% higher.