Inverter and battery brands, and solar mounting kits

Prices are typical and approximate (October 2026). Always get at least three quotes from MCS-certified installers.

Part A: Four common inverter and battery brands

An inverter turns the DC power from your panels into the AC power your home uses. A hybrid inverter can also charge and empty a battery. Most installers sell an inverter and battery from the same brand, so they work well together.

Brand	What it makes	Typical home battery size	Rough UK price (approximate)	Warranty (check the maker's terms)
SolaX Power	Hybrid inverters and its own batteries (Triple Power, T-BAT)	About 4.5 to 25 kWh, built up in modules	About £3,500–£4,500 installed for 5.8 kWh, or £5,500–£6,500 for 11.6 kWh	Batteries: 10 years, with about 60% of capacity left at the end
Fox ESS	Hybrid inverters and its own batteries (ECS, EQ, EP and Mira ranges)	About 2.9 to 14.4 kWh, built up in modules	About £2,800–£3,800 installed for 4.03 kWh, or £4,500–£5,500 for 8.06 kWh. One of the cheapest brands	Batteries: 5 years as standard. Register online and connect it to Fox Cloud to get up to 12 years in total, with at least 70% of capacity left
Solis	Mostly inverters, including the S6 hybrid range. Pairs with other makers' batteries, such as Fogstar or Pylontech	Depends on the battery you choose	Example: a Solis S6 3.6 kW hybrid with a Fogstar 16.1 kWh battery is listed at about £4,255 installed	Inverter warranty set by Solis. The battery warranty comes from the battery maker
SMA (German)	Mostly inverters: Sunny Boy (solar), Sunny Boy Storage (battery inverter) and the newer Sunny Boy Smart Energy hybrid. Has long paired with BYD Battery-Box batteries, and now sells its own SMA Home Storage battery too	BYD: about 2.6 to 22 kWh. SMA Home Storage: 3.28 kWh modules, for example 6.56 kWh	Hardware only, before VAT: Sunny Boy Smart Energy 3.6 kW from about £1,279, and SMA Home Storage about £1,413 per 3.28 kWh module. Fitting costs extra	BYD: 10 years, with about 60% of capacity left. Check SMA's terms for the inverter

What stands out - Fox ESS and SolaX: low prices, and you can add battery modules later. Check the warranty conditions, because Fox ESS needs online registration and monitoring. - Solis: inverters with a good reputation for value. Lets you choose your battery. - SMA: premium, German-made inverters that last a long time and have strong support. You usually pay more.

Maker websites: SolaX UK · Fox ESS · Solis UK · SMA UK · BYD Battery-Box

Real installs: inverters and batteries

Photos from real UK installs.

A SolaX hybrid inverter with two SolaX Triple Power batteries and isolator switches, fitted in a plywood enclosure — SolaX hybrid inverter with Triple Power batteries

A SolaX inverter on a wall with DC and AC isolator switches and a consumer unit, with no battery — SolaX inverter with DC and AC isolators

A SolaX inverter with isolator switches mounted on a block wall in a loft — Inverter fitted in a loft

Part B: Solar panel mounting kits

What they are

A mounting kit is the set of hooks, rails, clamps and bolts that holds your panels to the roof. It must stand up to wind and snow, keep the roof watertight, and not make the roof's fire safety worse.

Why they matter

Roof type: tiles, slate, metal and flat roofs each need different fixings.
Tilt and direction: south-facing at about 30–40° is ideal. East–west roofs also work well.
Wind and snow: wind can try to lift panels off the roof, and the risk changes with where you live, how high the roof is and how exposed it is. A kit that's fine in London may need more fixings in Scotland or on a hill.
Standards: kits should be certified under MCS 012 (the MCS standard for mounting kits). Wind loads should be worked out using BS EN 1991-1-4 (the Eurocode for wind) or BS 6399-2. Snow loads come from BS EN 1991-1-3. In-roof systems that replace tiles may use BS 5534. An MCS 012 certificate shows the product passed tests. It does not prove your own roof is strong enough, so your installer still needs to check your roof.

Main types

Type	What it is	Good points	Downsides
On-roof, with rails	Hooks go under the tiles, and rails above the tiles hold the panels	The most common and cheapest. Easy to fix or remove	Sits above the roof, so it's more visible. Hooks have to be fitted carefully so tiles don't crack
In-roof (integrated)	Panels replace some of the tiles and sit flush with the roof	Neat look. Popular on new builds and when re-roofing	Costs more. Takes more work to get watertight. Panels run a little hotter
Flat roof, ballasted or east–west	Frames held down by weights, often tilted east and west	No holes in the roof. Fits more panels	The roof must take the extra weight. Wind needs checking
Ground mount	Frames in the garden	Best tilt and direction. Easy to clean	Takes up space. Needs trenching for cables. May need planning permission

Real installs: mounting

Photos from real UK installs.

Solar panels on a flat roof, held down by concrete blocks instead of fixings — Ballasted flat-roof mounting (no roof drilling)

All-black solar panels clamped to the raised seams of a grey standing-seam metal roof — Panels clamped to a standing-seam metal roof

All-black solar panels on mounting rails on both sides of the ridge of a corrugated metal barn roof — Rails on a corrugated barn roof, both sides of the ridge

A timber pergola in a garden with solar panels forming its roof — Solar pergola: panels as a garden canopy

A long timber solar pergola running along the border of a large lawned garden — Solar pergola along a garden border

Questions to ask your installer

Which mounting kit is it, and is it MCS 012 certified?
Have you worked out wind and snow loads for my house, using BS EN 1991? Can I see the result?
Will someone check that my roof timbers are strong enough?
How will you keep the roof watertight, and what happens to any cracked tiles?
What warranty comes with the kit and with the installation work?
Do you fit bird guards, and how will the cables be run?

Common mounting brands

Renusol · Van der Valk Solar Systems · GSE In-Roof · Clenergy · K2 Systems · Schletter

Where our facts come from

Figures are typical and approximate. Last reviewed October 2026.