Data page · Last checked October 24, 2026
Solar lead cost in 2026.
What solar leads, calls and appointments cost, by type and by ad channel. Every row is labeled and linked to its source, so you can see how solid each number is.
Verified: from a primary source with a method. Vendor stated: a seller's own published price or claim. Industry estimate: an agency or vendor blog range with no dataset shown.
The short answer
- Shared lead$20-150
- Exclusive lead$100-300
- Booked appointment$120-500
- Sat appointmentabout $170-370
Nearly all of these are industry estimates. Use them to sanity-check a quote, not to forecast a budget.
By lead type
What lead sellers charge.
Exclusive leads
Sold to one installer. Usually 1.5 to 2 times the shared price.
| Product | Price | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exclusive marketplace lead | $100-250 | Industry estimate | ActiveProspect, How much do solar leads cost (Jul 2026) |
| SolarReviews exclusive high-intent lead | $150-300 | Vendor stated | SolarReviews, Best solar leads (2025) |
| Real-time lead (exclusivity varies) | $40-120 | Industry estimate | ActiveProspect, How much do solar leads cost (Jul 2026) |
Aged leads
Old form fills resold in bulk. Cheap per record, low contact rates.
| Product | Price | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged lead, any age | $0.10-10 | Industry estimate | ActiveProspect, How much do solar leads cost (Jul 2026) |
| Invention Solar aged lead, 1 to 365 daysPublished price list | $0.50-2.00 | Vendor stated | Invention Solar, aged lead price list |
| Aged Lead Store, 30 to 85 days | $0.60-1.50 | Industry estimate | UpLead, Buy solar leads (Oct 2026) |
Calls
You pay when a call passes a time threshold. No public US solar live-transfer price was found.
| Product | Price | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-per-call, per billable call | $55-110 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC |
| Inbound call | $100-300+ | Industry estimate | ActiveProspect, How much do solar leads cost (Jul 2026) |
Appointments
Someone else books the homeowner onto your calendar. No-shows are common.
| Product | Price | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booked appointment, market range | $150-500 | Industry estimate | ActiveProspect, How much do solar leads cost (Jul 2026) |
| RGR Marketing appointment-set lead | $250-450 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Appointment-set vs raw solar leads (May 2026) |
| Modernize appointmentUnsourced in the original | $120-250 | Industry estimate | UpLead, Buy solar leads (Oct 2026) |
Cost per sat appointment
What you pay for each homeowner who actually sits down with your rep. The number that matters most.
| Product | Price | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appointment-set lead, all-in per sitFrom a $225 sticker price after no-shows | $310-340 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Appointment-set vs raw solar leads (May 2026) |
| Google Search, own ads | $230-370 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC |
| Google Search, own ads (Sprout Sage) | $300-800 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar Google Ads lead generation |
| Meta instant form, own ads | $170-300 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC |
| Confirmed sit (VA Horizon)Low outlier | $50-150 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Appointment-set vs raw solar leads (May 2026) |
Return policy, one example
SolarReviews takes returns only for a wrong number or fake details. A lead that lost interest or signed with someone else stays billed. Source
Lead spend per closed job
SolarReviews puts it near $1,400, ranging about $500-2,000 by state. Its table is roughly two years old. Source
By ad channel
What running your own ads costs per lead.
Ranges for leads from ads in your own account. You pay the platform for clicks, and the lead goes to you only.
| Channel | Cost per lead | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google SearchRyze AI figure, cited by Elevarus | $80-130 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Meta ads for solar lead generation |
| Google SearchSprout Sage figure, cited by Elevarus | $80-300 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar Google Ads lead generation |
| Google Search, competitive metros | $140-220 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC |
| Google SearchSurgePV figure, cited by Webtonic | $150-400 | Industry estimate | Webtonic, Solar Google Ads statistics |
| Google Search, home improvement (not solar)Category benchmark, not solar-specific | $90.92 average | Verified | WordStream, 2025 Google Ads benchmarks |
| Meta instant form | $25-55 | Industry estimate | LeadGen Economy, Google vs Facebook solar leads |
| Meta instant formSit rate 20-30% | $40-70 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC |
| Meta to landing pageSit rate 40-50% | $80-120 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC |
| Local Services Ads (LSA)Sprout Sage figure, cited by Webtonic | $40-100 | Industry estimate | Webtonic, Solar Google Ads statistics |
| Performance Max (PMax)Spam risk without offline conversions | $90-160 | Industry estimate | Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC |
Cost per click
| Channel | CPC | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search, solar keywords | $5-15 per click | Industry estimate | Webtonic, Solar Google Ads statistics |
| Google Search, "solar installers near me" | $10-18 per click | Industry estimate | LeadGen Economy, Google vs Facebook solar leads |
| Google Search, high-intent terms in California | $18-22 per click | Industry estimate | Webtonic, Solar Google Ads statistics |
| Meta, solar ads | $1.50-4.00 per click | Industry estimate | Webtonic, Solar Facebook ads statistics |
- Google lists "Solar energy contractor" as a Local Services Ads category. Some help pages say California and Florida only, so check your market. Google
- Performance Max lead campaigns can learn to chase spam when they only see form fills. Feeding back real outcomes is the usual fix. Search Engine Land
- In a Q2 2026 audit of 116 solar Meta advertisers, 70% had no pixel on the landing page and 94% had no Conversions API. PipelineOn
The bigger picture
What a customer costs, and what one is worth.
$0.60/W
Residential CAC, 2025
Wood Mackenzie · Verified
$0.84/W
Residential CAC, 2026 forecast
Wood Mackenzie, up 40% · Verified
$2.49/W
Median system price, H2 2025
EnergySage · Verified
11.8 kW
Average system size, H2 2025
EnergySage · Verified
Wood Mackenzie puts residential customer acquisition cost at $0.60 per watt in 2025 and forecasts $0.84 per watt for 2026. The 2026 figure is a forecast.
Our math, not theirs: 11.8 kW at $2.49/W is about $29,400 per system. At $0.84/W, acquiring that customer costs about $9,900. On an 8 kW job it is about $6,700.
EnergySage prices come from competitive quotes on its marketplace, so they likely run below dealer pricing.
How to read these numbers
Most solar CPL figures are guesses from people with something to sell.
- 1
Most numbers come from people selling the channel.
Agency blogs and lead vendors publish nearly every solar CPL figure. Few show a dataset. Several cite each other.
- 2
They disagree, a lot.
Four agency sources put Google Search solar CPL at $80-130, $80-300, $140-220 and $150-400. All four can't be the typical case.
- 3
A lead is not a lead.
A shared form fill, an exclusive form fill, a phone call and a booked appointment are different products. Compare like with like.
- 4
2025 numbers likely run low for 2026.
The homeowner tax credit ended with 2025, and Wood Mackenzie expects CAC to rise 40%. Older benchmarks were set in an easier market.
- 5
Your market moves the number.
California, Texas and Florida metros price higher. A rural zip with two installers prices lower.
- 6
Judge on cost per sat and cost per sale.
A $40 lead that never answers costs more than a $200 lead that sits. Track every lead to an appointment and a signed deal.
We sell Google Ads management, so read our take with that in mind too. We have no solar client results to publish yet, which is why every number here belongs to someone else.
Methodology
How we built this page.
- Pulled every published 2025-2026 US residential solar lead price we could find: vendor pages, vendor and agency blogs, platform docs and analyst notes.
- Recorded each figure with its source URL and date, and kept conflicting ranges side by side instead of averaging them.
- Labeled each row. Verified means a primary source with a stated method. Vendor stated means a seller's own published price or claim. Industry estimate means a range with no dataset shown.
- Did our own arithmetic only where marked, such as system value and CAC per customer.
- Reddit and installer forums were not reachable, so there is no practitioner survey here.
Last checked
October 24, 2026
Prices change and vendors rarely publish rate cards. If you have a better source, tell us and we will add it.
Related reading:
FAQ
Questions
How much does a solar lead cost in 2026?+
Published ranges run from under $1 for aged leads to $20-150 for shared leads and $100-300 for exclusive leads. Booked appointments run $120-500. These are industry estimates and vendor-stated prices, not audited data.
Are Google Ads solar leads more expensive than Facebook leads?+
Per lead, usually yes. Agency estimates put Google Search at $80-400 per lead and Meta instant forms at $25-70. The same sources say Google leads contact and sit more often, so the gap shrinks or flips at the cost per sat appointment.
What is a good cost per sat appointment for solar?+
Published estimates cluster around $170-370, with outliers from $50 to $800. Compare it against your own close rate and margin per deal, not against someone else's cost per lead.
What is solar customer acquisition cost in 2026?+
Wood Mackenzie puts residential solar CAC at $0.60 per watt in 2025 and forecasts $0.84 per watt for 2026, up 40%. On an 11.8 kW system that works out to roughly $9,900 per customer.
Why do solar lead cost numbers disagree so much?+
Most of them come from agencies and lead vendors who sell these channels. They rarely show data, they cite each other, and they mix markets, years and definitions of a lead. Treat every range as a starting guess.
Sources
- ActiveProspect, How much do solar leads cost (Jul 2026)
- SolarReviews, Best solar leads (2025)
- SolarReviews, Solar leads program
- SolarReviews, Solar lead cost by state
- Elevarus, Appointment-set vs raw solar leads (May 2026)
- Elevarus, Solar CPL in 2026 after the ITC
- Elevarus, Solar Google Ads lead generation
- Elevarus, Meta ads for solar lead generation
- SuperDupr, Is Modernize worth it
- UpLead, Buy solar leads (Oct 2026)
- Invention Solar, aged lead price list
- Webtonic, Solar Google Ads statistics
- Webtonic, Solar Facebook ads statistics
- LeadGen Economy, Google vs Facebook solar leads
- WordStream, 2025 Google Ads benchmarks
- Google, Local Services Ads getting started
- PipelineOn, Solar Meta ads benchmark Q2 2026
- Wood Mackenzie, US residential solar CAC set to spike 40% in 2026
- EnergySage Intel H2 2025, via now.solar (Feb 2026)
- Search Engine Land, Why Performance Max lead gen fails
Free market check
See what solar searches cost where you install.
Five quick questions. We pull real keyword volume and click costs for your area and walk you through them on a call.
Built by the team behind FEXads, which runs ads in clients' own accounts for insurance agents.