Solar leads: buying them vs building your own pipeline

A solar lead is a contact who asked about solar, usually through a quote form, a savings calculator or a call. Sellers sell them in a few forms: exclusive leads, leads shared with a set number of other installers, booked appointments, and older records in bulk. Each form changes the price, the competition and what you can return.

• Exclusive leads. One large seller defines an exclusive lead as "a lead sold only to you."
• Shared leads. The same seller sells "Duo", "Trio" and "Quad" leads, sold to you and one, two or three other companies.
• Appointments. A seller books a meeting with the homeowner. Ask what counts as a kept appointment before you pay for one.
• Aged lists. Older records sold in bulk, sometimes called lead sheets. Expect many to be unreachable.
• Marketplaces. A homeowner compares installers on one site. One marketplace says it matches homeowners using "installer performance and customer satisfaction," not "response speed alone."
• Google Local Services Ads. "Solar energy contractor" is a listed category. See our Local Services Ads guide.
• Your own channel. Your Business Profile in Maps, your website, reviews and referrals from past customers.

By the seller, by your bid or by the competition, depending on the source. One seller lets the buyer choose a cost per lead and change it any time, with a recommended range. Google says competing bids "determine how much the lead is worth" in Local Services Ads. No price list we read today covers every market.

What each source's own page says about price, read October 31, 2026:

Prices change; check the platform. Sellers also publish averages of their own, but an average from the company selling the leads isn't a benchmark, so we don't repeat them.

Work out your own ceiling instead. Example numbers, not benchmarks:

1. Gross profit on a typical residential install: $5,000.
2. The share you'll spend to win it: 8%, so $400 per signed contract.
3. Leads it takes to sign one, shared: 12; exclusive: 6. So your ceiling is about $33 per shared lead and $67 per exclusive one.

Run it again for battery or commercial work if you sell it.

Less than most buyers expect. One large seller's page says, "Leads can only be rejected where the phone number is incorrect or the details supplied are fake," and adds, "you can't return the 20% of leads you don't contact." A homeowner who stops answering is usually your cost, not the seller's.

Google's Local Services Ads work differently. Google says "leads determined to be invalid or low quality are not charged," and charged leads "may be issued credits automatically if determined to be low quality." Repeat contacts from the same number within 15 days aren't charged again.

Before you buy, get the return rules in writing:

• What counts as a returnable lead, and how long you have to ask.
• Whether a homeowner who never answers can be returned.
• Whether a lead outside your service area or one who rents their home counts as invalid.

Yes, for homeowners buying a system. The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit "is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025." A lead produced by an ad that promised homeowners a 30% federal credit arrives expecting money that, for a purchased system installed now, isn't there. Not tax advice.

The IRS fact sheet on the 2025 law adds that an expenditure counts as made "when the original installation of the item is completed," so a system paid for in 2025 but not installed until 2026 doesn't qualify. Not every seller's page has caught up: one large lead seller's solar leads page, read October 31, 2026, still describes the credit as "reauthorized as part of the Inflation Reduction Act."

What to do about it:

• Ask sellers what the ad said. A lead generated on an out-of-date credit promise will take longer to sign, or won't.
• Check your own pages, profile posts and ads for any 30% federal credit claim on a purchased system.
• Explain lease and power purchase options accurately. The FTC says that under those, tax credits and incentives go "to the system's owner." Our solar marketing page covers what a financing page should say.

Your accountant or tax adviser confirms what applies to a given customer.

Because the FTC tells homeowners to. The FTC's guide for homeowners says, "Compare detailed bids from several companies," and ask about the licenses or bonding the state, county and city require. It adds: "Never deal with a power or home repair company that pressures you for a quick decision." Expect to be one of several bids.

That changes how you handle a lead:

• Be the easy one to check. License details, reviews and photos of your own installs, where the homeowner looks.
• Give a detailed bid, because the homeowner will hold it next to others.
• Don't push a same-day signature. The FTC tells buyers to walk away from that.

A shared lead makes the comparison sharper: one seller's shared leads go to as many as four companies at once. Your own channel doesn't stop the homeowner comparing, but the homeowner chose to contact you first.

Ask how the lead was made, who else gets it, what you can return and how the homeowner agreed to be contacted. A seller that answers all four in writing is easier to judge. One that won't is telling you something too. Start small, track cost per signed contract and scale only what pays.

Questions to put to any solar lead seller:

1. Where did the lead come from? The ad, the form and what the homeowner was promised, including any tax credit or savings claim.
2. Exclusive, Duo, Trio or Quad? One seller sells the same homeowner to between one and four companies; ask which tier you're buying and whether the lead is resold once it ages.
3. How old is it? A request from today and a list from last year are different products.
4. How did the homeowner agree to be contacted, and does the seller keep a record of it you can see?
5. What can you return, and how fast?
6. Can you choose your service area, system types (residential, commercial, battery) and homeowners only?

Our Angi leads guide shows the same questions applied to a large home-service marketplace.

Build what a comparing homeowner checks before choosing between bids: systems you've installed near them, reviews from commissioned jobs, license details, and a financing page that's right about the credit. Put it on your Business Profile and site, then make the consultation request short. Google says "there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google."

Steps, in the order a solar buyer checks you:

1. Show installs near the buyer. Put photos of systems you installed, by town and county, on your Business Profile and site. Google says creating a profile is free.
2. Ask for a review after each system is commissioned, from your own system, with nothing offered in return. See reviews and reputation.
3. Build a page for each line you sell: residential, commercial, battery or backup, with your own photos and an accurate explanation of cash, loan, lease and power purchase options.
4. Make the consultation request short, with only what you need to quote, and answer the same day.
5. Track cost per signed contract for every source, bought and owned, and drop the sources that miss your ceiling.

We haven't measured solar. Our 50-metro study covers eight other home-service trades, and we don't apply their figures to solar. The free review looks at your own market: your map position for three core searches in your service area, gaps in your Business Profile, how your reviews compare with the top three competitors, and what Google AI and ChatGPT say for two searches.

Mindflow doesn't sell, share or resell leads. Our one program covers SEO, including AI search optimization, your Business Profile, reviews and conversion work, so consultation requests come through channels you own. When paid ads fit your market and goals, we scope Google Ads, Local Services Ads or ChatGPT ads in your proposal; ad spend is paid to the platform. You own every account, and we don't promise leads, rankings or returns.

Are aged solar leads worth buying? Rarely as a main source. Aged records are old requests or lists sold in bulk, and many won't answer. Ask who else bought the same records. If you test them, buy a small batch, record how many you reach and how many sign, and compare the cost per signed contract with fresh leads and your own channel. Ask the seller how the contacts agreed to be called.

Should I buy solar appointments instead of leads? Only if the seller's definition of an appointment matches yours. Get in writing what counts as kept, whether the homeowner owns the home, and what happens when no one is there. An appointment costs more than a lead, so judge it the same way: by cost per signed contract over at least a few months.

Does answering first win marketplace solar leads? Not on its own, at least on one large marketplace. It says it doesn't route leads "based on response speed alone" and weighs project completion rates, verified reviews, responsiveness and time in business. So finished installs and reviews count as well as speed. Answer quickly anyway: the homeowner is comparing several bids.

Can our ads still mention the federal solar credit? Only accurately. The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit isn't available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so an ad promising it on a purchased system installed now is wrong. Not tax advice. Describe lease and power purchase options as the FTC does, and have your tax adviser check any incentive claim.

Does Mindflow buy or resell solar leads for installers? Neither. Mindflow doesn't sell, share or resell leads. We build the channel that brings consultation requests to you directly: your Business Profile, a page for each line you sell, accurate financing copy and reviews. Monthly reports show what your tracking records. Paid ads are scoped case by case, with ad spend paid to the platform.

Read October 31, 2026. Lead sellers and marketplaces are named as examples of each model, not recommendations.

• IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit (page last reviewed or updated July 4, 2026)
• IRS, FS-2025-05: FAQs for modification of sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W and 179D under Public Law 119-21 (August 21, 2025)
• Federal Trade Commission, Solar Power for Your Home (April 2022; updated December 9, 2025)
• Google, How bidding works for Local Services Ads
• Google, How leads work (Local Services Ads)
• Google, Getting started with Local Services Ads
• Google, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
• Google, Google Business Profile
• SolarReviews, Solar leads: largest and best providers
• Service Direct, How much do Service Direct solar leads cost (October 2, 2023)
• EnergySage, Lead allocation

Want to see where your solar company shows up on the map, in reviews and in AI answers before you buy more leads? Get the free AI Visibility Review: a written report within 2 business days and a 20-minute walkthrough.