Prices at a glance
| Size / type | Typical price | Range | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1.5kVA system | KSh 75,950 | 37,500 – 128,000 | 30 |
| 3-3.6kVA system | KSh 175,500 | 14,999 – 390,000 | 31 |
| 5-6kVA system | KSh 300,920 | 149,000 – 950,000 | 31 |
| 8-12kVA system | KSh 440,000 | 283,050 – 920,000 | 7 |
Equipment as listed. Most listings do not include installation. Prices from listings on Kenyan shops and marketplaces, checked October 2026. Listings with impossible specs are left out.
The honest answer: installers quote the whole job
We searched Kenyan installers, shops and pay-as-you-go brands and found no published labour price lists. Installers price the whole job (equipment plus installation) after seeing your house. So the cost of installing solar panels in Kenya is best understood in two parts:
- Equipment, which has real market prices you can check.
- Installation, which depends on your roof, wiring and system, and comes only from a quote.
The table above shows typical equipment prices from the listings we checked: about KSh 76,000 for a 1–1.5kVA system, KSh 175,500 for 3kVA, KSh 301,000 for 5kVA and KSh 440,000 for 8–12kVA.
What published estimates say (treat as indicative)
Two public sources give installed figures. Neither is an installer's price list.
- A January 2026 post on a web agency's business directory gives approximate installed ranges, equipment and labour together: about KSh 100,000 to 200,000 for a small 1–2kW home system, KSh 290,000 to 700,000 for 3–5kW, KSh 450,000 to 1,500,000 or more for 6kW and above, and KSh 2,800,000 and above for commercial systems of 15kW or more.
- A January 2023 Kenyans.co.ke article quoted an engineer giving a rule of thumb of about KSh 100 per watt installed, or about KSh 500,000 for a 5kW household system. That is now old, and panel prices have fallen since.
For an installed price from a seller's own site: Sun King lists its PowerHub home systems, from 2kW to 5kVA, at upfront prices from about KSh 230,000 to KSh 354,500, with installation included per its pages.
Building up the installed cost of a 3kVA system
Here is how the equipment for a typical 3kVA hybrid home system adds up at typical prices from the listings we checked:
- 3kVA hybrid inverter: about KSh 52,800.
- Lithium battery of about 5kWh: about KSh 110,000.
- Six 450W panels: about KSh 59,000.
That is about KSh 222,000 before mounting rails, cables, breakers, surge protection, earthing, transport and labour. Those extras and the installer's margin are where quotes differ. An itemised quote lets you see them.
Per watt, that works out at about KSh 80 for every watt of panels in equipment alone. A solar installation cost per watt is a handy check, but it hides the biggest variable, the battery.
What pushes the solar installation price in Kenya up or down
- Battery size and type. Usually the biggest single cost. Lithium costs more upfront but lasts longer.
- Roof type and height. Iron sheets on timber are simplest; tiles, concrete slabs and steep or tall roofs take more time and materials.
- Ground mounts and carports, which need frames and foundations.
- Cable runs. The further the panels are from the inverter, and the inverter from the main board, the more cable.
- Wiring changes. Separating essential circuits, adding a changeover switch or upgrading an old distribution board.
- Earthing and surge protection, which may need new earth rods.
- Distance from the installer's base, which adds transport and time.
- Brand of every part. A tier-one inverter and panels cost more than marketplace equivalents.
Labour, warranty and after-sales: what you are paying for
The installation part of a quote pays for more than a day's work on the roof. It should cover the survey and design, a licensed technician, safe mounting and wiring, testing and commissioning, and someone to call when something goes wrong.
That is why the cheapest installer is not always the cheapest system. A system that is badly wired or poorly earthed costs more in repairs and lost output than the saving on labour. Ask each installer what warranty they give on their workmanship, how long they take to respond to a fault, and whether a service visit is included in the first year.
How to get a real installed price
- Estimate your size first with our solar calculator, which works as a solar installation calculator for a first figure.
- Get at least 3 quotes from EPRA-licensed installers, all for the same goal: the same loads and the same backup hours.
- Ask for itemised quotes, with every part's brand and size, and labour shown separately.
- Check the parts against our solar system prices and solar panel prices.
- Ask about VAT. Some sellers note that solar equipment may be VAT-exempt while services are not; ask for VAT to be stated.
Read our solar installation guide to know what good work looks like before you compare.