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There are two ways to get solar power into a place the utility doesn’t reach — or doesn’t reach reliably. You can buy a kit that arrives as one system with one warranty, or you can buy panels, a charge controller, a battery bank, an inverter, and a box of connectors and put it together yourself.
The DIY route is cheaper per watt-hour. That’s not in dispute. Whether it’s cheaper for you is a different question, and it comes down to three things the spreadsheet leaves out: your time, your wiring competence, and whether the thing you’re powering is attached to a house.
The two paths side by side
| Approach | What you get | Real cost | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-in-one kit | Battery, inverter, charge control, and solar in one system with one warranty. Works the day it arrives. | From $3,499.99 (Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus) or $4,782 for a 6,144Wh EcoFlow DELTA Pro Ultra Portable kit | Shop kits → |
| Component build | Panels, charge controller, batteries, inverter, racking, and wiring chosen and sized by you. | Lower per watt-hour — panels from ~$1.13/W — plus your labor and the parts most people forget | Shop off-grid → |
Where the DIY build genuinely wins
Cost per watt of panel. A rigid Rich Solar MEGA 200W 12V monocrystalline panel at $225.99 works out to about $1.13 per watt. The folding portable panels bundled into kits run $1.36 to $2.49 per watt. Buy 800W of rigid panel for roughly $900 and the gap against portable equivalents is already several hundred dollars, and it widens with every panel you add.
Scale. Component systems don’t hit a ceiling the way a packaged kit does. Want to double your array next spring? Add panels and, if needed, a bigger charge controller. Want more storage? Add batteries. You’re not buying a second kit.
Fit. A cabin that needs a well pump and a chest freezer is a different problem from an RV that needs lights and a laptop. Sizing each component to the actual load means you don’t pay for capability you’ll never use.
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What a component build actually costs you
The panels are the part everyone prices. Here’s the rest of the list, and it’s where DIY budgets go wrong:
- Charge controller — sized to your array’s voltage and current, not picked off the shelf. An MPPT controller harvests meaningfully more than a cheap PWM one in cold or partial shade. Browse charge controllers →
- Battery bank — the single biggest line item, and the one where cutting corners costs the most. LiFePO4 is the standard now for cycle life and safety.
- Inverter — sized to your surge loads, not your average ones. A well pump starting can draw several times its running wattage.
- Racking and mounting — rated for your wind and snow load, and flashed properly if it touches a roof. Browse racking and mounting →
- Wire, fusing, and connectors — correctly gauged cable, breakers, and fuses. A 10AWG extension cable with solar connectors is $32.14; undersized wire is how a build turns into a fire.
None of that is exotic, but it’s real money and real hours, and it’s the reason the “DIY is half the price” claim usually shrinks to something closer to 20–30% once the whole bill lands.
Where the kit wins
It works on day one. No sizing calculation, no mismatched components, no discovering that your controller can’t handle the array voltage on a cold morning. For backup power specifically — where the whole point is that the thing works when you’re stressed and it’s dark — that’s worth real money.
One warranty, one support line. When a component build misbehaves, diagnosing which of five parts is at fault is your job. With a kit, it’s the manufacturer’s.
No electrician for the portable versions. A portable kit you plug loads into needs no permit and no licensed work. A permanent component system wired into a house needs both, and that quote frequently exceeds the hardware savings that made DIY look attractive in the first place.
Split-phase 240V, solved. Getting 120V and 240V out of a component build means the right inverter and the right wiring. The DELTA Pro Ultra and Anker SOLIX kits ship that way.
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The honest decision rule
Build it yourself if: the system is for a cabin, shed, RV, boat, or van; it isn’t wired into a house’s service panel; you’re comfortable sizing a controller and pulling correctly gauged wire; and you want the array to grow over time. Start with the off-grid systems and Rich Solar ranges, which are priced for exactly this.
Buy a kit if: it’s home backup; someone in the house depends on power; you want 240V without designing for it; or you’d rather spend a weekend not doing this. A $3,499.99 Anker SOLIX F3800 Plus that’s actually charged and ready beats a component system that’s still 80% finished in the garage when the storm arrives.
A quiet third option: many people end up with both — a kit for the house, and a component array on an outbuilding. They’re not competing purchases so much as different jobs.
One planning note that applies either way: the Section 25D federal credit that covered 30% of residential solar and storage was repealed for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, so don’t budget a 2026 build around it. Check DSIRE for surviving state and utility incentives, verify anything tax-related with a professional, and see our state-by-state solar guides for what installed grid-tied solar costs where you live.
▶ Buying a kit? Get the SOLIX F3800 Plus — $3,499.99 code CHADPENFOLD — 10% off
▶ Building it yourself? Start with the MEGA 200W — $225.99 code CHADPENFOLD — 10% off
Keep reading: Best portable solar panels compared · Solar cables and connectors · DELTA Pro Ultra kits compared