The components of a solar system at a glance

In this chapter, you'll learn

• which components every solar system has – and what each part does;
• what's optional and what you can safely postpone;
• the few points where you, as the buyer, genuinely decide for yourself.

The system at a glance

From the street, you only see the modules – yet half the system works invisibly inside the house. The good news to start with: there are only a few parts, and each has exactly one job.

The components at a glance, as of: July 2026. The technical deep dive: How a solar system is built.

Let's go through the three locations one by one – roof, basement, meter box.

On the roof: modules and mounting

You know the modules from Chapter 1: light in, electricity out. For buying purposes it's enough to know that modern modules are technically more similar to each other than brochures suggest – the big differences lie in appearance (most people today choose uniformly dark modules), warranty terms and quality class. Here you genuinely have a choice as a buyer, and a good quote names the make and model specifically instead of just «brand-name module».

The mounting beneath is the least conspicuous and, at the same time, most underestimated part of the system. It has to hold the modules against wind and snow load for decades without making the roof leak – and it has to fit the roof type: a tiled roof is mounted differently from a metal or flat roof. You don't decide this, specialist planning does; what you should keep in mind regardless, you already know from Chapter 2: the condition of the covering comes before the modules.

In the basement: the working heart of the system

The inverter is the unassuming box that does the actual work: it converts the electricity from the roof into the household current your sockets use, extracts the maximum from the modules in any weather, monitors the system, and feeds the data into the app you'll later use to track your production. If the grid goes down, it switches the system off for safety reasons – which is why a standard system delivers nothing during a power outage, as you know from Chapter 1.

Two things are worth remembering. First, the inverter is the component with the shortest lifespan in the system: it's typically replaced once during the system's life – a plannable, unspectacular event. Second, this is where a fork in the road comes up that you help decide: a so-called hybrid inverter can later take a battery storage system directly. Anyone who wants to keep the battery option open builds «battery-ready» – a moderate surcharge that keeps the door open. Details on the device: The inverter explained.

In the meter box: where measurement happens

The meter is the system's bookkeeper. As soon as you feed in, the grid operator switches to a meter that records both directions separately: what you draw from the grid and what you feed in. Later billing is based on this – the remuneration for your surplus as well as your electricity bill.

For you, this is the most convenient part of the whole project: the switch is the grid operator's job, applied for by the installation company, and there's nothing to decide here. You'll notice a short appointment at your meter box – and that's it.

Optional: battery and control

Two building blocks come up in almost every consultation, and both are exactly that: optional. The battery storage system stores the midday surplus for the evening, increasing the share of electricity you use yourself. Energy management steers large consumers – boiler, heat pump, EV – preferentially into the sunshine hours.

Both make sense, neither is mandatory, and above all: both can be retrofitted. Many people start with the system alone and decide again after the first year of operation, using real consumption data – an order we often recommend, because it shifts the battery question from gut feeling to numbers. The only important thing is to plan for the expansion from the start (keyword: battery-ready). Whether, when and how big: that's covered in depth in Chapter 7 on the solar ecosystem; the basics on batteries are in the battery guide.

Where do you really decide for yourself?

Finally, the context that makes this chapter practical. Of all the components, you as the buyer genuinely have a say at three points, in essence:

1. Modules: appearance and class. Uniformly dark or standard, solid mid-range or premium – this is about taste, budget and warranties. 2. Battery readiness. A hybrid inverter now, a battery maybe later – the cheapest way not to have to commit. 3. Battery and control: now, later, never. The one question you can safely postpone – it's decided better with real data.

Everything else – mounting, wiring, protection technology, the meter – follows from the roof, the house and regulations. That's not being kept in the dark, it's a division of labour: the quality of a system is decided less by any single component than by how everything works together, and that's exactly the job of specialist planning.

### Remember Every system has four parts – modules, mounting, inverter, meter. Battery and control are additions, not mandatory, and quality is decided by how everything works together, not by the brochure.

In brief

Do I have to choose the individual components myself? No – you have a say in module appearance, quality class and the battery question; the rest is specialist planning. What you should do: have the quote name makes and models specifically. «Brand-name module» without a name is a placeholder, not information.

How long do the individual parts last? Modules are designed for 25 to 30 years and more, and the mounting and wiring keep pace accordingly. The inverter is the component with the shortest lifespan and is typically replaced once during the system's life – plannable and done within hours.

Do I need the battery from the start? No. The battery can be retrofitted – cheapest if the system is built battery-ready. Many households decide after the first year of operation, using real consumption data, whether to add one and how big – that's usually a more honest calculation than any forecast made in advance.

Questions about one of the components? Call us without obligation – we're happy to explain what's behind the terms in a quote: +41 78 830 83 35

Solar guide: ← Chapter 2: Is my house suitable? · To the guide overview · Chapter 4: What does the whole thing cost? →

Sources: Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE, EnergieSchweiz; structure and assessments taken 1:1 from the components guide (T02).

Last updated: 9 July 2026 · Author: ecoEn editorial team