What an inverter swap touches, and who may do it
The inverter turns the panels' direct current into household power, and replacing it means working on the wiring that feeds your panel. TDLR's electrical contractor license covers repairing or altering conductors that carry power, and the City of Houston ties its solar permit to Occupations Code Chapter 1305, the electricians chapter. Ask for the TDLR electrical contractor license number before the swap is booked.
That license belongs to a business employing a master electrician, who may be the owner, with business liability insurance that TDLR's page sets at a minimum of $300,000 per occurrence. A homeowner may do electrical work on a dwelling they own and live in, but cities may add rules, and we don't advise opening a live inverter yourself.
What an inverter replacement costs in Texas: string and micro
Our model puts a string inverter at $1,150 to $3,125 per string inverter, installed, and the table adds a per-microinverter row. Texas's solar installer wage ratio of 0.91 is applied to a single national range after widening it 15 percent on each side. No permit fee is in it and no federal credit comes off, so it is an estimate and not a quote.
It covers the unit and the labor to install it, not a battery, wiring repair or a panel upgrade. Ask whether the price includes removing the old unit and any monitoring gateway.
| Item | Figure | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated range, not a quote | $1,150 to $3,125 per string inverter, installed | Built from one national published range, adjusted by the Texas solar installer median wage ratio (0.91). Before any incentive: there is no federal credit for a system installed in 2026. Basis: no Texas company price for this job, so the national estimate stands. |
| Estimated range per microinverter, not a quote | $115 to $365 per microinverter, installed | Built from one national published range, adjusted by the Texas solar installer median wage ratio (0.91). Before any incentive: there is no federal credit for a system installed in 2026. Basis: no Texas company price for this job, so the national estimate stands. |
| Solar photovoltaic installer wage, Texas median | $23.19 an hour | O*NET 2025 median from BLS May 2025 data: what installers are paid, not what you are charged. |
Estimated range. Built from national published ranges (1 source), adjusted by Texas's solar installer median wage ratio to the US (0.91, BLS May 2025), plus the city solar permit fee where the city publishes one. Not a quote. One Texas installer publishes its own current price on its own page (Palmetto, per watt), too few to build a range from; the others print blog or market averages or dated figures, which we do not count. We have no Texas company price for this job, so the range is our national estimate alone. Full method. Prices as of Oct 24, 2026.
The listing and technical rules a replacement has to meet
Oncor's installer page says certified systems are inverter-based units listed to UL 1741. PUCT rule 25.212 sets the technical requirements for interconnection and parallel operation, and rule 25.211 bars a pre-interconnection study fee for pre-certified units of up to 500 kW that stay within its feeder limits. Ask the company to name the replacement model and show its listing.
CenterPoint puts every interconnection through its design review and requires an AC disconnect that is visible and accessible, typically within 10 feet of its meter. If the new unit changes where the disconnect sits, ask the installer to show how it still meets that rule.
Warranty papers before you pay
Utilities Code 39.916, as the statute reads (the copy cited here may predate the latest session), makes a utility's duty to allow interconnection of distributed renewable generation depend partly on a five-year warranty. Find the warranty on the failed inverter and the date it was installed before you pay for a replacement, and ask whether the new unit's warranty covers labor as well as parts.
Telling the utility and the city
None of the Texas utility pages cited here says whether a like-for-like replacement needs a new application, so ask your utility before the old unit comes off. El Paso Electric lists an $85 application for systems of 1 to 100 kW and $42.50 for an expansion application, so ask which one applies if the new unit is larger.
The city solar fee rows price whole systems, such as Houston's $91.06 Solar Panel Permit and Lubbock's $75 permit, so ask your permit office whether a swap needs an electrical permit and what it costs.
When an inverter problem is an emergency
- Smoke, flame, a hot casing with a burning smell or sparks at the inverter means 911; keep everyone away from it.
- An error light is on but nothing smells or looks burnt.
- The inverter has stopped sending data to the monitoring app.
What to gather before you call
- Find the make, model and serial number on the inverter label from the ground.
- Write down the error code and when production stopped.
- Locate the warranty papers and the date of installation.
Permit and utility notice for an inverter swap
Ask your permit office whether a like-for-like swap needs an electrical permit, and get the amount in writing.
Ask your utility whether the replacement unit needs a new application or an expansion application.
Ask for the company's contractor license number and look it up with your state's licensing board before you sign.
Questions people ask
Whose license covers an inverter swap in Texas?
Ask for a TDLR electrical contractor license number. Houston's solar permit page names the electricians chapter, Occupations Code 1305, and the swap works on wiring that carries power.
What listing should a Texas inverter carry?
Oncor describes certified systems as inverter-based units listed to UL 1741. Ask your own utility what it requires, since each prints its own rules.
Is my failed inverter still under warranty?
Your contract and the manufacturer's papers decide. Utilities Code 39.916, as the statute reads, refers to a five-year warranty for interconnected generation, so keep those papers with your interconnection agreement.
Does a bigger inverter mean a new application?
Ask your utility before you buy. El Paso Electric, for one, lists a $42.50 expansion application beside its $85 application for 1 to 100 kW.
- O*NET OnLine (BLS May 2025 wage data): Solar photovoltaic installers (SOC 47-2231), Texas statewide, median hourly wage Read Oct 24, 2026.
- O*NET OnLine (BLS May 2025 wage data): Solar photovoltaic installers (SOC 47-2231), United States (national), median hourly wage Read Oct 24, 2026.
- SolarPanelMatch: how we estimate costs, Texas (editorial policy) Read Oct 24, 2026.
- TDLR: Apply for a New Electrical Contractor License; Houston Permitting Center HPWCODE1119 Read Oct 24, 2026.
- TDLR: Electrical exemptions Read Oct 24, 2026.
- Oncor: for installers Read Oct 24, 2026.
- PUCT Substantive Rule 25.211 (PDF); 25.212 PDF; PUCT DG page Read Oct 24, 2026.
- CenterPoint Energy DER Application Tariff (PDF) Read Oct 24, 2026.
- Texas Utilities Code 39.916 (legacy host, Wayback copy) Read Oct 24, 2026.
- El Paso Electric: Texas Interconnection of Facilities up to 10 MW Read Oct 24, 2026.
- Solar permit fee, Houston Read Oct 24, 2026.
- Solar permit fee, Lubbock Read Oct 24, 2026.