Vicaya GlobalCalculator · Solar · Installation cost

What should your solar installation cost?

Have a quote in hand? Enter it line by line and see the all-in total, the cost per watt every quote is really compared on, and where the money goes — hardware, labour and soft costs.

Match your quote. Either way, this also sets the system size.

Step 1 The panels

Enter the panels the way your quote lists them — a price per panel, or a rate per watt. Whichever you pick also sets the system size.

How many modules the quote lists.

The nameplate rating of one module — with the count, this is what sets the system size.

£

What one module costs on the quote.

Total kilowatts peak, when the quote prices the panels by the watt.

£

The all-in panel rate per watt.

Step 2 The rest of the hardware
£

String inverter, microinverters or a hybrid — the AC conversion.

£

Rails, roof anchors and flashing, or a ground-mount frame.

£

DC and AC cable, isolators, breakers, earthing, and rapid-shutdown devices where required.

£

Generation meter and monitoring, plus any consumer-unit or main-panel upgrade.

Step 3 Labour
£

Mechanical and electrical work to fit and connect the system.

£

Roof access — usually a separate line in UK quotes.

Step 4 Soft costs
£

System design and the structural and electrical drawings.

£

Permit and inspection fees, and the utility or DNO application.

£

Installer overhead and margin, where the quote itemises it.

Adds the battery, its inverter or charger and a backup gateway to the total.

The battery
£

The battery pack itself.

£

Converts and charges — sometimes built into a hybrid inverter.

£

What keeps the house running in an outage.

Extras and tax
Extras and tax

Only what is on your quote — leave the rest at zero.

£

If the installer bundled one in.

£

Bird guard, snow guards, optimisers — anything not above.

%

A percentage of the hardware subtotal, where it applies. Zero for UK domestic solar.

What this quote costs

The figures update as you fill the rail. Leave a line blank if it is not on your quote.

£0total installed cost
—per watt
£0per kWp
5.40 kWpsystem size

Enter your quote in the panel to the left to see where the money goes.

The breakdown

Every line you entered, grouped the way a quote itemises it, with a subtotal for the hardware, the labour and the soft costs.

  • Hardware
  • Solar panels£0
  • Inverter£0
  • Mounting and racking£0
  • Electrical (wiring, protection, isolation)£0
  • Metering and monitoring£0
  • EV charger£0
  • Other hardware£0
  • Hardware subtotal£0
  • Labour
  • Installation labour£0
  • Scaffolding / access£0
  • Labour subtotal£0
  • Soft costs
  • Design and engineering£0
  • Permits, inspection and interconnection£0
  • Overhead and margin£0
  • Soft costs subtotal£0
  • Total installed cost£0

Want the payback and savings too? This tool prices a quote you already have. To size a system from your bill and see what it would save and how long it takes to pay for itself, use the solar panel cost calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use this installation cost calculator?

Take a quote you have been given and type each line into the panel — the panels, the inverter, the racking, the wiring, the labour, the permits. The tool adds them up, works out the cost per watt, and shows how the money splits between hardware, labour and soft costs. Anything not on your quote, leave at zero.

What is a fair cost per watt for solar?

Cost per watt is the total installed cost divided by the system’s watts, and it is the one number that compares two quotes for different-sized systems fairly. This tool works out yours from the figures you enter.

For orientation only, not what the tool uses: EnergySage put US residential solar at about $2.60 per watt before incentives in 2026. It runs lower per watt on bigger systems and higher on small ones, and varies by country, installer and roof — which is why the calculator asks for your own quote rather than assuming a rate.

Sources: EnergySage, average US solar prices (retrieved 2026-09-04).

How much does solar panel installation cost?

This page holds no prices — it totals the quote you enter and itemises it. The cost is therefore always traceable to a figure you can check against a real quote.

As an anchor, and not what the tool computes: EnergySage reported roughly $16,000 for a 6 kW US system and $31,000 for a 12 kW one before incentives in 2026, while the Energy Saving Trust puts a typical UK domestic system near £7,000. Your installation is whatever your own lines add up to.

Sources: EnergySage, average US solar prices (retrieved 2026-09-04); Energy Saving Trust, solar panels (retrieved 2026-09-04).

Does the total include a battery?

Only if you tick "Include battery storage". A battery adds three lines — the pack, its inverter or charger, and a backup gateway — and they enter the total only while the box is ticked, so you can see the price with and without it.

How do I work out the payback period from this?

Payback needs what the system saves as well as what it costs. Once you have the installed cost here, put it, your bill and your location into the solar panel cost calculator to see the savings, the payback period and the return — this tool prices the quote, it does not size the system or model its savings.

What this does not know

  • Your prices, not ours. Every figure is one you typed off your own quote. This page holds no country's prices, and the cost per watt is arithmetic on what you entered, not a market benchmark.
  • It prices, it does not size. It costs a system you have been quoted. To work out how much solar you need, and the savings and payback, use the simple calculator above.
  • Currency is relabelled, not converted. Change the currency and the money fields clear, because the same digits would mean a different amount — re-enter them.
  • Tax varies. The tax line is a percentage of the equipment you set — zero where it does not apply, such as UK domestic solar.