Commercial Solar Leads UK: What They Cost and How to Qualify Them (2026)
A warehouse roof holds more panels than a whole street of semis. One signed commercial job can be worth twenty residential installs. So why do so many UK installers who chase commercial work end up burned?
Because commercial is a different game: different buyers, different timescales, different economics. Here’s what commercial solar leads cost, and how to qualify one before you sink forty hours into a quote that never lands.
What Are Commercial Solar Leads in the UK?
Commercial solar leads are enquiries from organisations rather than homeowners: farms, warehouses, factories, offices, landlords with property portfolios, schools and care homes. The buyer is a business installing solar to cut its operating costs, and the systems are larger, typically 30kWp up to several megawatts, against 3-5kWp for a typical home.
The person enquiring changes too. On a residential lead you’re speaking to the person who signs. On a commercial enquiry you might get a farm owner who decides on the spot, or an office manager told to “look into solar” with no budget and no authority. Two enquiries can look identical in your inbox and be worth wildly different amounts of your time.
How Much Do Commercial Solar Leads Cost?
Published UK figures put commercial solar leads at £200-300+ each from specialist providers, according to Phantom Digital’s pricing research. That’s two to four times the £50-150 the same source publishes for premium exclusive residential leads. The premium reflects smaller audiences, harder targeting and much bigger job values at stake.
Here’s how the published numbers stack up:
| Lead type | Published UK price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shared residential leads | £15-30 | Sold to 3-5 installers |
| Exclusive residential (premium) | £50-150 | Phantom Digital range |
| Commercial solar leads | £200-300+ | Phantom Digital range |
| DIY Google Ads | £80-250 per lead | Phantom Digital, before your time |
| Appointment sellers | From ~£130 | Published prices |
A £250 lead isn’t expensive if it’s real: one 100kWp install carries the margin of a dozen domestic jobs. The risk is paying commercial prices for enquiries going nowhere.
For context, PoweredLeads’ residential pricing starts at £45 per accepted lead, exclusive, one installer per area. We compare the main providers in our guide to the best solar lead generation companies in the UK.
Why Do Commercial Solar Leads Convert Slower Than Residential?
Commercial solar leads convert slower because the deal has more moving parts: multiple decision makers, capital approval cycles, DNO grid applications, sometimes planning permission, and structural surveys on roofs measured in thousands of square metres. A residential sale closes in weeks. A commercial one commonly runs three to twelve months.
More people have to say yes
A homeowner and their partner can decide over dinner. A commercial deal might need the operations manager, finance director, board and landlord to all agree. Any one of them can stall it, and the person you’ve been talking to for two months is often not the one who signs.
The grid gets a vote
Anything meaningful in size needs a G99 application to the DNO, and in plenty of areas the local grid can’t take the export without expensive reinforcement. Ground mounts and listed buildings add planning permission on top.
Surveys are a project in themselves
A domestic roof survey takes an hour. A commercial one means structural calculations, condition reports on ageing steel sheeting, sometimes an asbestos survey: real cost you carry before a penny is committed.
How Do You Qualify a Commercial Solar Enquiry?
Ask three questions before you invest serious time: Are you speaking to a decision maker? Do they own the premises? Is there daytime electricity load? A yes to all three is a real prospect. A no to any of them means the deal is unlikely to happen, whatever you’re hearing.
Decision maker. Who signs off capital spend at this size, and have they asked for this? “The boss wants numbers” is fine. “I was asked to research options” usually means you’re writing a free report.
Owned premises. Tenants on short leases almost never proceed, and landlord consent kills more commercial solar deals than price does. If they rent, ask about lease length and the landlord’s position before quoting.
Daytime load. Solar pays back fastest when power is used on site as it’s generated. Cold storage, manufacturing and dairy farms are strong. A unit that sits empty all day is a weak payback case, and weak cases stall at the finance director’s desk.
If the answers are solid, then talk roof age, budget and timescale. If not, be polite, stay in touch, and spend your afternoon on enquiries that can close.
Should You Chase Commercial Leads Before Fixing Residential?
For most UK installers, no. Commercial is lumpy: a deal can take nine months and fall over the week before contracts. Residential pays the wages, closes in weeks, and a predictable pipeline of domestic work is what lets you survive a long commercial sales cycle without sweating payroll.
The installers who do commercial well treat it as upside on a steady residential base. Pour everything into two big prospects, win neither, and you spend the next quarter scrambling for domestic work you’d let dry up.
That base is easier to build than it used to be. Exclusive residential leads, verified before delivery (real name, full address, phone, homeowner, inside your agreed postcodes), bought in blocks with no retainer, no monthly fees and no contract, give you a pipeline you can plan around. How it works is deliberately simple, and any lead missing The Four-Point Accepted Lead Standard is replaced free, no claim window.
To be straight: PoweredLeads’ core supply is residential. If you also install commercial, raise it on the setup call. It’s agreed per area, case by case, and we won’t promise commercial volumes, because nobody honestly can.
Check If Your Area Is Still Open
One installer per area means your patch either has space or it doesn’t. Tell us your postcodes and whether commercial is part of your business, and we’ll tell you what’s available. Leads arrive by email or straight into your CRM within minutes.
Check availability in your area
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a commercial solar lead in the UK?
An enquiry from an organisation rather than a homeowner: farms, warehouses, factories, offices, schools or landlords. Systems run from around 30kWp into the megawatts, so job values are far higher and the buying process slower.
How much do commercial solar leads cost in the UK?
Phantom Digital publishes £200-300+ per lead for commercial solar, against £50-150 for premium exclusive residential providers. Commercial leads priced like residential ones are usually recycled or unqualified data.
Why do commercial solar deals take so long to close?
Multiple decision makers, capital approval cycles, DNO grid applications, occasional planning permission and structural surveys at scale all sit between enquiry and signature. Three to twelve months is normal.
Does PoweredLeads supply commercial solar leads?
Our core supply is exclusive residential solar leads, from £45 per accepted lead, one installer per area. If you also install commercial, raise it on the setup call: it’s agreed per area, case by case, with no promised commercial volumes or published commercial pricing.