Solar Leads in 2026: What Every Source Costs and Which to Buy

Fresh solar leads cost $25 to $300 each at SolarReviews, the one large marketplace that prints a range. Aged records start at $0.25, and a booked appointment runs as high as $500.

This guide is for the independent residential installer with one to four crews who is deciding whether to buy leads, build a channel or do both. Every price was read on the seller's own page on November 13, 2026.

Skill Mammoth, founded in 2023, builds websites and runs marketing for contractors and home service businesses, so we sell the build side. Weigh that as you read. The channel plan is in our solar marketing guide. This page is the buying guide.

Six kinds of solar leads, and who else gets each one

Sellers use the same labels for different things. Start with what each one means, because the label tells you how many installers will call the same homeowner.

• Aged lead. A homeowner who filled in a form days, months or years ago. The Leads Warehouse, a lead seller, places these near the top of the sales funnel.
• Shared lead. One fresh inquiry sold to several installers at once. RGR Marketing's guide counts two to three buyers.
• Exclusive lead. One inquiry sold to one buyer.
• Live transfer. The seller qualifies the homeowner by phone, then passes the call to your rep while the homeowner is still on the line.
• Pre-set appointment. The seller books a consultation on your calendar.
• Your own lead. A form, call or referral that reached your company by name. Nobody resold it.

Sellers also say "real-time" for a fresh lead delivered moments after the form is submitted. A real-time lead can be shared or exclusive.

"Exclusive" needs a second look. The Leads Warehouse's own buying guide says a lead "may be exclusive within a particular network." It tells buyers to ask three things first: exclusive to whom, for how long and what is included.

One date changes every list

The IRS page for the residential clean energy credit, last updated July 4, 2026, says: "The credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025." A homeowner who buys a system gets no federal credit now.

An aged record can be a year old, so some of those homeowners asked while the credit still applied. SolarReviews' page for lead buyers still carries a line about the credit being "reauthorized as part of the Inflation Reduction Act." Ask what a seller's forms promised before you call the people who filled them in.

What solar leads cost: every printed price, side by side

Most pages offering solar leads for sale never print a price. Three sellers print one for their own leads: Aged Lead Store, Invention Solar and SolarReviews. The other rows are ranges a seller or a software company published in a guide.

Read the guide rows as the market according to people who sell into it. ActiveProspect is a lead-compliance software company, and it calls its figures "directional market benchmarks, not fixed rates." Elevarus is a performance marketing firm and calls its own "practitioner ranges." Where each row comes from:

• Aged Lead Store: its Arizona price table, by lead age and order size.
• Invention Solar: the aged-lead price list on its homepage.
• SolarReviews: its page for lead buyers.
• RGR Marketing: a buying guide dated January 22, 2026.
• The Leads Warehouse: a cost guide dated May 4, 2026.
• Elevarus: an article dated May 10, 2026.
• ActiveProspect: a roundup dated July 31, 2026.

Aged leads: the cheapest record and the most dialing

Aged Lead Store prices by the age of the lead and the size of the order:

• 3 to 30 days old: $3.00 a lead, falling to $1.00 on orders of 25,000 or more.
• 31 to 85 days old: $1.50, falling to $0.60.
• 86 to 365 days old: $0.50, falling to $0.25.

Invention Solar's homepage lists $2.00 for its freshest aged lead and $0.50 for its oldest. Its FAQ prints a different schedule that tops out at $3.00, so ask which one applies. The FAQ adds that an aged lead is "shared a maximum of three times at each age bracket."

The record is cheap because the work is yours. RGR Marketing prices an aged lead higher, at $3 to $10, and puts its typical close rate at about 1 percent. Somebody has to dial a hundred homeowners to find the one who signs.

Exclusive solar leads and the shared tiers

SolarReviews sells four tiers. An exclusive lead goes to you alone. Duo, trio and quad leads go to you and one, two or three other companies. Its page gives one price range for all four and says the price moves with your location and the tier.

Two rules on that page decide what a lead is worth to you. Only 48 percent of raw leads pass its verification and get sold. And a lead can be rejected only "where the phone number is incorrect or the details supplied are fake."

A homeowner who signed with the first installer to call earns no credit. Neither does one who never picks up. Credit bundles are sold as non-refundable.

RGR Marketing's guide puts a shared lead at $20 to $60 and an exclusive one at $40 to $100 or more.

The Leads Warehouse starts a shared real-time lead at $40 and an exclusive one at $100. Dolead and A1 SolarStore's A1 Pro both describe their solar leads as exclusive and print no price.

Live transfers and solar appointment setting

A live transfer costs more than a form fill because a person has already qualified the homeowner. Modernize lists live transfers with pre-qualification and prints no price. Invention Solar sells both transfers and pre-set appointments and prints a price for neither.

The nearest printed numbers are per call. The Leads Warehouse puts an inbound solar call at $100 to $300 or more. Elevarus puts pay-per-call, where you pay for each call long enough to bill, at $55 to $110.

Solar appointment setting is where the labels mislead most. Elevarus compared published appointment prices on May 18, 2026 and found a spread of $25 to $450, because sellers count different things:

• Qualified set: $25 to $75. The homeowner took a time and has not confirmed it. The price is VA Horizon's.
• Confirmed sit: $50 to $150. The homeowner agreed to a time and kept it. Also VA Horizon's.
• Appointment-set lead: $250 to $450, from RGR Marketing's guide.
• Door-to-door appointment: $200 to $400 or more, from The Leads Warehouse.

Elevarus declines to name one industry cost for a kept appointment and tells buyers to be wary of anyone who does. Ask each seller which of the four it is quoting, and get the answer in writing.

The sellers that print no price

These sellers print no price for a solar lead. What each page does say:

• EnergySage: its installer page asks for over two years of solar installs, a license and insurance. Two roundups report different fees: UpLead says $1,000 to $2,000 a project, and Enzo Dialer says about $50 to $150 a lead plus a share of closed deals.
• Modernize: "We custom build you a program based on annual revenue." Its solar page sells leads and calls.
• RGR Marketing: its product page says pricing "is dynamic." Shared leads go to two to four installers, and minimum orders typically start at 100 leads.
• homeimprovementleads.com: a minimum of 20 leads a week and a 90 day commitment. An invalid lead can be returned within 7 days.
• Leads.net, Dolead and Profitise: no price, no minimum and no return policy on the pages we read.
• A1 Pro: three free leads at signup, then no printed price.

EnergySage publishes neither figure, so get its fee in writing. Modernize and homeimprovementleads.com also sell leads in other trades, and their terms are in our home improvement leads guide.

The math: what solar leads cost per signed contract

Cost per signed contract is the lead price divided by your close rate, the share of leads that sign. Sellers print close rates as well as prices, and they are lower than most buyers expect:

• SolarReviews, its own leads: 20 to 30 percent reach an appointment and 3 to 7 percent close.
• The Leads Warehouse, real-time leads: 3 to 10 percent close.
• RGR Marketing: appointment-set leads close at 5 to 10 percent, exclusive leads at 1 to 3 percent and shared leads at 0.5 to 1 percent.

SolarReviews states the consequence itself: "approximately 93 - 97% of the leads you buy will not close." Every figure here comes from a company that sells leads. Nobody publishes a tracked close rate from a named set of installer accounts.

Each range pairs the low price with the high close rate, then the high price with the low one. The first row uses $100, a price inside SolarReviews' range, and the 5 percent rate its page uses as an example.

Set that against the job. EnergySage's cost page puts the typical home system at about 12 kilowatts and $31,135 before incentives. A $2,000 lead cost is about 6 percent of that install.

Elevarus works the sum backwards. Take your gross profit on an install, decide what share you will spend to win it, then multiply by your close rate. A quarter of $6,000 in gross profit at a 5 percent close supports about $75 a lead.

Set your own price, close rate and install size in the calculator below.

What a signed solar contract costs, by lead type

Lead type	Printed price	Close rate the seller prints	Cost per signed contract at a 5% close rate
Aged lead	$0.25 to $3.00	About 1% (RGR Marketing)	$5 to $60
SolarReviews lead	$25 to $300	3% to 7% (SolarReviews)	$500 to $6,000
Real-time lead	$40 to $120	3% to 10% (The Leads Warehouse)	$800 to $2,400
Your own Google Ads lead	$140 to $220	None printed	$2,800 to $4,400
Appointment-set lead	$250 to $450	5% to 10% (RGR Marketing)	$5,000 to $9,000
Door-to-door appointment	$200 to $400	None printed	$4,000 to $8,000

Prices and close rates read on each seller's own page on November 13, 2026. With scripts on, this is a calculator: pick a lead type, then set your own price, close rate and install size.

Speed decides whether the close rate holds

SolarReviews says a buyer reaches about 80 percent of its leads by calling at once and again over the first few hours. Its advice is to "contact leads within minutes, not hours." A shared lead is a race against the other companies holding it.

If calls go to voicemail while the crew is on a roof, fix that before you buy. Our contractor lead follow-up system covers the first reply and the call schedule. The same race in roofing is in where to buy roofing leads.

Which source fits which installer

The right source depends on who answers the phone and who runs the appointment.

A pilot needs a seller with no minimum. SolarReviews says a card "will not be charged unless you set up a lead buying campaign." RGR Marketing's orders typically start at 100 leads. Twenty a week for 90 days comes to more than 250.

Dialing aged leads takes a dialer, the software that works through a call list. Enzo Dialer, which sells no leads, prints $99 a seat each month on annual billing.

To build a list instead of buying one, PropertyRadar's Solo plan is $119 a month for homeowner records you filter yourself. Those are records, and nobody on that list asked for a quote.

Before you buy solar leads, ask eight questions

GreenLancer, a solar permitting and engineering company, publishes a vetting checklist for lead sellers. It is the best one we read. Here it is, with what the sellers' own pages add:

1. Where do the leads come from? Organic search, paid ads or incentivized forms.
2. How many buyers get each lead? Get the maximum in writing.
3. How fresh is it? Ask how long a lead takes to reach you.
4. Which filters apply? Homeowner status, ZIP codes, roof type and minimum electric bill.
5. What gets credited? Wrong numbers, renters and duplicates should be. SolarReviews credits only a wrong number or fake details.
6. Is there proof of consent? Ask for the record on every lead. Enzo Dialer's guide treats that record as the buyer's responsibility.
7. What are the contract terms? Minimum spend, prepayment and cancellation.
8. Can you pilot? Start small and measure cost per completed project before you scale.

Building your own solar leads: what homeowners search, and when

A lead from your own site is exclusive by default. Google Ads keyword data, pulled through DataForSEO on November 13, 2026, shows demand moving toward local searches over the past year:

• "solar installers near me": 27,100 US searches in October 2026, up from 6,600 in November 2025.
• "solar panel installation": 110,000 in March 2026, 22,200 in September and 49,500 in October.
• "solar tax credit": 5,400 in March 2026 and 1,600 a month from July through September.
• "solar panel quotes": 720 searches a month at $114.36 a click, the dearest term we pulled.

A click on "solar companies near me" averages $29.90. Chart any of these searches by month in the explorer below, then set the share of them you think you can win.

What homeowners search for solar, by month and click price

Search	US searches a month	Average click price	Peak month, last 12
solar panels for home	90,500	$10.79	Jan, 110,000
solar panel installation	60,500	$24.89	Mar, 110,000
solar companies near me	14,800	$29.90	Mar, 22,200
solar panel cost	14,800	$8.00	Mar, 22,200
home battery backup	14,800	$3.84	Jan, 27,100
solar installers near me	12,100	$28.49	Oct, 27,100
solar panel installation near me	9,900	$23.01	Oct, 22,200
how much do solar panels cost	9,900	$8.21	Mar, 12,100
tesla powerwall cost	5,400	$6.57	Jan, 8,100
solar tax credit	3,600	$12.26	Dec, 5,400
solar battery installation	1,600	$39.48	Mar, 3,600
solar quotes	880	$79.65	Nov, 1,000
solar panel quotes	720	$114.36	Feb, 880

Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO, United States, pulled November 13, 2026. A 1% share of these 239,500 searches is about 2,395 clicks a month, which would cost about $40,490 at each search's average click price. With scripts on, this is an explorer: sort by volume or click price, chart any search by month and set your own share.

Turning clicks into leads costs more than the click. Elevarus puts an exclusive Google Search lead for residential solar at $140 to $220 in competitive metros. That sits inside the SolarReviews range, for a homeowner nobody else was sold.

Google's pay-per-lead listings are another route. Its Local Services Ads category list includes "Solar energy contractor" and prints no price. Google tells each business to check eligibility for its area. Bidding is covered in our Local Services Ads cost guide.

Owned channels need a site that turns the visit into a call. We build one for $3,000, or $150 a month for 24 months, and marketing plans start at $350 a month. MAYO, the agency ranking fifth for this search, prints no price on its solar page.

The agencies that do print one are compared in the solar marketing guide, next to seven channels ranked for an independent installer. The version for every trade is how to get contractor leads.

Three to skip

1. Aged lists as the whole plan. A record costs cents because the homeowner asked long ago, and RGR Marketing puts the close rate near 1 percent. It suits a rep with a dialer and spare hours, and it will not fill an install calendar.
2. "Guaranteed" appointments with no definition. Enzo Dialer's guide calls the word a marketing phrase, since no seller controls whether a homeowner shows up or signs. Pay for kept visits, and put the meaning of "kept" in the contract.
3. A volume commitment before a pilot. A 100-lead minimum, a 90 day term or a non-refundable credit bundle ties you to a seller before you know your close rate on its leads. Test small first, as GreenLancer's checklist says.

Frequently asked questions

How much do solar leads cost?

SolarReviews prints $25 to $300 a lead, depending on location and how many companies share it. Aged Lead Store prints $0.25 to $3.00 for an aged record. Ranges published by sellers put a real-time lead at $40 to $120 and a booked appointment at $150 to $500. EnergySage, Modernize, Leads.net, Dolead and Profitise print no price.

Where can I buy solar leads?

From four kinds of seller. Marketplaces such as SolarReviews, EnergySage and Modernize sell fresh inquiries, often to more than one installer. Lead vendors such as RGR Marketing, The Leads Warehouse and Invention Solar sell real-time leads, transfers and appointments. Aged Lead Store sells old records in bulk. Google Local Services Ads sells leads under your own name where the solar category is available.

Are exclusive solar leads worth the higher price?

Usually, if the seller defines exclusive in writing. RGR Marketing prices an exclusive lead at $40 to $100 or more against $20 to $60 for a shared one, and lists close rates of 1 to 3 percent against 0.5 to 1 percent. The Leads Warehouse warns that a lead may be exclusive only within one network, so ask who else can sell that homeowner.

What is a good close rate on purchased solar leads?

Sellers print low ones. SolarReviews tells buyers to expect 3 to 7 percent of its leads to close and 20 to 30 percent to reach an appointment. The Leads Warehouse prints 3 to 10 percent on real-time leads. RGR Marketing lists 5 to 10 percent on appointment-set leads. No independent benchmark exists, so track your own rate for each seller.

What does solar appointment setting cost?

Published prices run from $25 to $450 because sellers count different things. Elevarus's comparison lists a qualified set, a booking the homeowner has not yet confirmed, at $25 to $75 and a kept appointment at $50 to $150, both from VA Horizon. RGR Marketing prices an appointment-set lead at $250 to $450. The Leads Warehouse puts a door-to-door appointment at $200 to $400 or more.