How Much Do Solar Leads Cost in the UK? (2026 Comparison)
How much should a solar lead cost in the UK? The honest answer: it depends entirely on what kind of lead you’re buying, and most installers don’t realise they’re comparing completely different things.
A £10 lead from a quick Facebook form and a better-qualified exclusive enquiry are not the same product. One fills your CRM. The other has a better chance of filling your survey diary. This guide breaks down the real costs, the hidden costs, and what you should actually be measuring.
Note: the prices in this article are published UK figures from the sources named alongside them, not our own internal numbers. Conversion and survey rates vary enormously between installers depending on location, service area and sales process, so treat every rate here as a benchmark to test against your own, not a guarantee.
What Is the Average Cost Per Solar Lead in the UK?
Published UK figures put the range at roughly £10 to £60 depending on the source, with premium exclusive supply above that. Shared leads from directories like Checkatrade typically cost £15–30 per lead but are sold to 3–5 installers simultaneously. Exclusive leads bought from a provider span a much wider band: Phantom Digital quotes £50–150 for premium agencies and £200–300+ for commercial, while budget vendors such as SolarPVLeads advertise from £8–15. What you pay matters less than what you are actually buying: whether the lead is exclusive to you, how quickly it reaches you, and what happens if it turns out to be a bad lead.
Here’s how the main sources compare:
| Lead Source | Cost Per Lead | Exclusive? | Average Survey Rate | Typical Close Rate | Effective Cost Per Install |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade / MyBuilder | £15–30 | No (3–5 installers) | 15–25% | 5–8% | £1,500–3,000+ |
| Exclusive leads, budget vendors | From £8–15 | Claimed | Varies widely | Varies widely | Depends on quality |
| Exclusive leads, premium providers | £50–150 | Yes | 50–75% | 12–20% | £330–2,500 |
| Running your own search ads | £80–250 | Yes | 40–60% | 15–25% | £530–4,170, plus your time |
| Referrals / word of mouth | £0 | Yes | 80%+ | 30–50% | £0 |
The cheapest lead is rarely the cheapest installation. That’s the number most agencies hope you never calculate.
Why Cheap Leads Cost More Than Expensive Ones
A solar installation in the UK averages £8,000–12,000 in revenue. If your cost per lead is £10 but only 3% convert to installations, your cost per installation is £333. Sounds good, until you factor in the 50 hours your sales team spent calling people who didn’t pick up, didn’t remember filling out a form, or were “just looking.”
Compare that to a higher-intent exclusive enquiry where more homeowners can be reached, surveyed, and quoted. The cost per lead may be higher, but the cost per installation can be lower because your team is not wasting time on cold, duplicated, or low-effort enquiries.
The real metric isn’t cost per lead. It’s cost per installation.
Most lead generation agencies report on cost per lead because it makes their numbers look good. An agency generating 100 leads at £15 each looks impressive in the monthly report. But if only 3 of those leads become installations, you’ve spent £500 per install in lead costs alone, plus the staff time wasted chasing 97 people who were never going to buy.
Shared Leads vs Exclusive Leads: The Hidden Maths
Shared leads from platforms like Checkatrade, MyBuilder, or Solar Guide are sold to multiple installers. The platform earns more by selling each enquiry 3–5 times. Here’s what that actually costs you:
Shared lead scenario:
- Lead cost: £20
- Shared with: 4 other installers
- Contact rate: 60% (many don’t pick up after 5 calls)
- Your survey booking rate: 15%
- Close rate from survey: 25%
- Effective cost per install: £2,133
- Sales hours wasted per install: 12+
Exclusive lead scenario (bought from a provider):
- Lead cost: £45
- Shared with: nobody
- Contact rate: stronger than low-effort form fills
- Survey booking rate: 50-75%
- Close rate from survey: 12-20%
- Effective cost per install: £300-750
- Sales hours wasted per install: 2
The exclusive enquiry can cost more upfront and still be cheaper once you calculate time wasted, survey rate, close rate, and cost per installation.
Why Lead Quality Varies So Much Between Suppliers
Two suppliers quoting a similar price can be selling completely different things. The gap sits in how much work happens before the enquiry reaches you.
The cheapest enquiries come from a homeowner tapping a button and auto-filling their details in three seconds. Many do not remember doing it. Volume is high and cost is low, but the quality reflects the effort the homeowner put in, almost none.
Better enquiries come from homeowners who were qualified and informed before they submitted, and whose contact details were checked before anyone tried to ring them. That is why cost per lead alone is misleading: a better-qualified exclusive enquiry can be worth several times a cheaper basic form fill.
The principle is simple: the best leads come from homeowners who are informed, qualified, and expecting your call, not people who tapped a button while scrolling at 11pm.
Two questions separate the suppliers quickly. Is this lead sold to anyone else? And what happens if the number is wrong?
If you would rather buy exclusive leads than run campaigns yourself, see what they cost, from £45 per accepted lead, no retainer and no monthly fees.
What About Google Ads for Solar?
Google Ads target homeowners actively searching for solar installation, phrases like “solar panel installers near me” or “solar PV quotes.” These leads have high intent because they’re already looking.
Google Ads pros:
- High intent, they searched for solar
- Good survey rates (40–60%)
- Strong close rates (15–25%)
Google Ads cons:
- Expensive, £30–60 per lead in competitive areas
- Limited volume, only so many people search each month
- Click fraud is a real problem in the solar industry
- Requires ongoing management to stay profitable
Search advertising captures people already looking; social advertising creates interest in people who were not yet searching. Social typically produces higher volume at a lower cost per lead, while search produces higher-intent leads at a premium price. Phantom Digital puts DIY Google Ads at £80–250 per residential solar lead, which is why running it yourself is rarely the cheap option people expect.
How to Calculate Your Real Cost Per Installation
Before comparing any lead source, calculate your actual cost per installation from each channel. Here’s the formula:
Cost per installation = Total spend ÷ Number of installations from that channel
Total spend includes:
- What you pay for the leads
- Any ad spend, if you are running the campaigns yourself
- Any management or retainer fee on top
- Sales team time (hours × hourly rate)
- Any software or CRM costs
Example calculation, buying exclusive leads outright:
- Leads bought: 80 at £45 each = £3,600
- Marketing spend: £0, the supplier carries it
- Management or retainer fee: £0
- Surveys booked: 48 (60% rate)
- Installations closed: 10 (17% close rate)
- Cost per installation: £360
At an average deal value of £10,000, that is roughly 3-4% of revenue spent on acquiring the job. Compare that number across every lead source you use, it is the one that tells you where to put your money.
Run the same sum on a managed campaign and the ad spend and the monthly fee both go on top of the lead cost, whether or not the leads convert. That is the real difference between paying for leads and paying for a service: one line moves when the results move, and the other does not.
What Should You Be Paying in 2026?
Based on current UK market data, here are realistic benchmarks for solar lead generation in 2026:
| Metric | Below Average | Average | Good | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost per lead (exclusive, bought) | £150+ | £50–150 | £30–50 | Under £30 |
| Lead-to-survey rate | Under 30% | 30–50% | 50–65% | 65%+ |
| Survey-to-install rate | Under 10% | 10–15% | 15–20% | 20%+ |
| Cost per installation | £800+ | £400–800 | £200–400 | Under £200 |
Price alone means very little without two other facts: how many installers get the same lead, and what happens when a lead is wrong. A cheap exclusive lead with no credit policy can cost more per installation than a dearer one that is replaced when it misses the standard.
And if a supplier cannot tell you your cost per installation, only your cost per lead, that is a red flag. The number that matters is how much you spend to get a panel on a roof, not how many names are in your CRM.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a solar lead cost on Checkatrade?
Solar leads on Checkatrade typically cost £15–30 per lead, but each lead is shared with 3–5 other installers in your area. This means you’re competing on speed, the first installer to call usually wins. Factoring in the reduced contact rate and competition, the effective cost per installation from Checkatrade leads often exceeds £1,500.
Is it cheaper to run your own solar ads or buy leads?
Often it is cheaper to buy. Phantom Digital puts DIY Google Ads at £80–250 per residential solar lead, against £50–150 for exclusive leads bought from a premium provider, and the DIY figure is media cost only, before management time or the early spend that teaches an account what works. We go through the full comparison in do Facebook Ads work for solar installers?
What is a good cost per lead for solar in the UK?
Published UK figures put exclusive leads from premium providers at £50–150, so anything in the £30–50 band is competitive if it is genuinely exclusive. However, cost per lead alone is misleading. A more expensive enquiry can be more valuable if it has stronger intent, better contactability, and a higher chance of becoming a booked survey. Always measure cost per installation, not just cost per lead.
How many solar leads do I need per month?
Most UK solar installers need 40–80 exclusive leads per month to maintain a steady installation pipeline. At a 50–65% survey rate and 15–20% close rate, that translates to roughly 3–10 installations per month. The exact number depends on your team size, geographic coverage, and average deal value.
Why are my solar leads not converting?
The most common reasons solar leads don’t convert are: the leads are shared with multiple installers (they’ve already been called 3 times), the leads came from a low-effort form where the homeowner barely engaged, follow-up is too slow (calling after 30 minutes instead of 60 seconds), or there’s no system to nurture leads who aren’t ready immediately. Fixing the lead source usually has a bigger impact than fixing the sales process.
Is Checkatrade good for solar leads?
Checkatrade can generate solar enquiries, but leads are shared with multiple installers, creating a race to contact the homeowner first. Many solar installers report that Checkatrade leads have declined in quality, with homeowners receiving multiple calls within minutes of submitting an enquiry. For installers who want exclusive leads and a predictable pipeline, an exclusive supply that nobody else receives typically delivers a better cost per installation, even at a higher price per lead.
Considering switching from shared leads to exclusive ones? Check whether your area is open, exclusive solar leads from £45 per accepted lead, with no retainer, no monthly fees and no contract.