Solar
Local SEO for solar installers.
Acquisition costs are forecast to rise 40% in 2026, to $0.84 a watt. On a 12kW system that is around $10,000 to win one customer through paid channels, against a job worth about $30,500.
- $30,505
- average residential installation, a typical 12kW system
- $206
- blended cost per lead across channels
- ~$1,400
- total lead spend per closed job through shared marketplaces
- +40%
- forecast rise in acquisition cost per watt during 2026
The cost of buying a solar customer is going up, and it went up before
Acquisition cost per watt hit a five year low of $0.60 in 2025 and is forecast at $0.84 for 2026. That is not a market that rewards depending on one channel.
| Average system value | $30,505 | 12kW |
|---|---|---|
| Blended cost per lead | $206 | |
| Google Ads cost per lead | $80 to $300 | |
| Lead spend per closed job, shared marketplaces | ~$1,400 | |
| Acquisition cost per watt, 2025 low | $0.60 | |
| Acquisition cost per watt, 2026 forecast | $0.84 | up 40% |
Every channel you rent reprices annually. Position does not.
A 40% rise in acquisition cost is a decision made by other bidders, not by you, and there is no version of the paid market where you are insulated from it. The argument for ranking in solar is not that it is cheaper per lead today. It is that it is the only line in the acquisition budget whose price is not set by whoever else entered the market this quarter.
US market figures for 2026. Systems average roughly $2.41 to $3.34 per watt before incentives, which is where the per-watt figures above become comparable to a job value.
What a solar lead costs, by source
- Shared raw lead
- $10 to $125
- Shared marketplace, blended
- ~$110
- Warm transfer
- $125 to $175
- Exclusive raw lead
- $85 to $350
- Booked, pre-qualified appointment
- $72 to $300
- Organic enquiry
- no per-lead cost
Solar is sold further from your door than most trades
A plumber competes within a few suburbs. A solar installer will happily drive an hour for a $30,000 job, which means the area you need to be visible across is much larger than the area proximity will give you for free.
Strong at the pin, invisible at the edge of the drive time
This is the shape almost every installer starts with. First place within a few kilometres of the office, and nothing at the outer edge of the area you are perfectly willing to service.
The gap between those two boundaries is the whole opportunity. Those are jobs worth $30,000 each, in suburbs you already drive to, going to whoever happens to be based nearer.
Closing it is a prominence problem rather than a proximity one: reviews, mentions, and content that establishes you as the installer for the region rather than the one on that street. It is slow, and it is the only thing that widens the circle.
What we would actually build for a solar installer
The payback calculator page
Every solar customer is doing the same sum and most are doing it badly. A page that does it honestly, with your local tariffs and your local sun hours, is the single most linked-to and most shared asset an installer can own.
Incentive pages that are actually current
Rebates and feed-in tariffs change, and most installer sites carry a page written two schemes ago. Being the site that is right this month is a genuine competitive position, and it needs a review date on it.
Brand and equipment comparisons
Panel and inverter comparisons attract the researching customer weeks before they enquire. They also let you be honest about what you do not install, which converts better than a page claiming everything is excellent.
Regional pages built on drive time, not on suburb names
Not one page per suburb. A handful of pages covering the regions you genuinely service, each with real installs, real roof types and real grid conditions in it.
Completed installs as content
System size, roof type, suburb, what it produces, what it saved. Every install you finish is a page, and it is the proof a homeowner spending $30,000 is looking for.
A review process that survives a long job
Solar has a gap between deposit and switch-on that kills review requests. Ask at commissioning, when the customer is watching the meter run backwards for the first time.
The solar customer researches for weeks before they call anyone
This is a long consideration purchase, which means the searches that decide who gets the enquiry happen long before the word installer is typed.
| Search type | What they type | Where their head is at | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost and payback | solar panel cost, how long to pay off solar, is solar worth it | Early. Deciding whether to do this at all. | Highest |
| Incentives | solar rebate, feed in tariff, government solar scheme | Has decided in principle. Working out the real price. | High |
| Equipment | best solar panels, which inverter, battery worth it | Comparing. Will judge you on whether you have an opinion. | High |
| Installer selection | solar installer near me, solar company reviews, accredited installer | Ready. Shortlisting three for quotes. | Highest |
What solar installers ask us
We buy leads and they close badly. Is that normal?
For shared leads, yes. The same homeowner is contacted by several installers within the hour, so you are competing on speed of response rather than on merit. The number worth tracking is the roughly $1,400 of lead spend sitting behind each closed job, not the price of an individual lead, which is cost per enquiry done properly.
Acquisition costs are rising. Does that make SEO more or less attractive?
More, and for a structural reason. A 40% rise in cost per watt is decided by other bidders. The cost of holding a position is decided by the work you do, which means it is the one line in the budget that does not reprice because a competitor raised their budget. Local SEO versus paid ads is the same argument without the solar arithmetic.
How far from our office can we realistically rank?
Further than a trade that gets small jobs, because prominence travels and proximity does not. Run a grid across your drive time and you will see your real edge, which for most installers is well inside the area they would happily service. Service area or street address covers how to declare it without breaching the guidelines.
Is a payback calculator worth building?
It is the most useful page an installer can have, because every customer is attempting that calculation anyway. Build it with local tariffs and be honest about the assumptions; a calculator that always says yes is recognised as a sales tool within about ten seconds.
Should we write about batteries even though most customers do not buy one?
Yes, because they search for it. The battery question is one of the main things delaying a decision, and the installer who answers it clearly, including when the answer is not yet, is the one who gets the call when the panels are ordered. That is content that brings customers rather than readers.
Local SEO for nearby trades
What a customer is worth, and which searches actually convert, change by trade. These are the closest neighbours to this one.
See how far your visibility actually reaches.
The free audit runs a grid across your service area and shows the line where you stop appearing, which for most installers sits well inside the area they would happily drive to.