How to get solar leads without paying per lead

The solar work that doesn’t cost you per lead comes from things you own. Your Google Business Profile. Your reviews. Your MCS certification on show. Pages that answer what homeowners ask before they ring. Searches for solar panels peak in March and April, so it all needs to be in place before spring.

Here’s each one in the order we’d do them for a solar installer.

Why bought solar leads cost more than the price per lead

Search “solar leads” on Google and nearly every result is a company selling them. You pay for each lead, not for each job you win. Some sellers pass the same lead to more than one installer. Others offer exclusive leads.

Paid clicks aren’t cheap either. Google’s Keyword Planner shows advertisers bidding between £9.52 and £28.45 for a top-of-page click on “solar leads”.

The big lead sites for trades each charge in their own way. Here’s Checkatrade vs MyBuilder vs Bark vs TrustATrader for trades on cost, contracts and refunds.

In our view a bought lead can fill a quiet month. It shouldn’t be the only way your diary fills.

1. Set up your Google profile for solar installs

When a homeowner searches for a solar installer nearby, Google often shows a map with a few local firms. Those come from Google Business Profiles. It’s free, and it’s yours.

The parts that matter most for a solar installer:

• Main category. Google says to use categories that are “as specific as possible, but representative of your main business”. When we searched for solar installers in Leicester, Coventry and Nuneaton in October 2026, most firms on Maps showed as Solar energy company. Others showed as Solar energy equipment supplier or Solar energy system service. If you install, the supplier category doesn’t describe your main work.
• Services. List each job in your customers’ words. Solar panel installation, battery storage, adding a battery to existing panels, repairs and maintenance. Add EV chargers only if you fit them.
• Service areas. If you go to the customer, Google says to remove your address and list the towns you cover. Up to 20 areas. No radius.
• Photos. Your own installs, from the ground and close up. Inverters and batteries too. Not stock photos or manufacturer images.

If you haven’t got a profile yet, here’s how to set up a Google Business Profile for your trade.

2. Get a review after every install

Solar isn’t a distress purchase. In our view most homeowners get more than one quote and take their time. Reviews from people nearby who’ve had panels fitted help them pick you. In our view the reviews that help most describe the job and the town in the customer’s own words, because that’s what the next homeowner is comparing.

Reviews help on Google too. Google says “more reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking”.

Make it routine. Ask every customer the same way once the system’s switched on. Send your review link by text. Don’t offer anything in return and don’t tell them what to write. Both are against Google’s rules. Here’s how to get Google reviews as a tradesman step by step.

3. Put your MCS certification where people decide

MCS is the UK quality mark for small-scale renewables like solar panels and battery storage. It sets the standards installers work to. For a homeowner it answers a practical question as well as a trust one.

• Export payments. Under the Smart Export Guarantee, electricity suppliers pay households for the power they send back to the grid. Ofgem’s guidance says that for solar panels up to 50kW the customer will be asked to show the installation and installer are suitably certified. An MCS certificate is one way. Other schemes can be equivalent. If they can’t show it, the supplier doesn’t have to pay them, though some may choose to. The scheme covers Great Britain.
• Insurance and finance. MCS says many insurers require MCS for renewables fitted at a policyholder’s address. It says some finance companies require it for their best lending rates too. It also says an installation can’t be certified after the event.
• Being found. MCS certified installers get a listing on MCS’s Find an Installer tool. It comes with your certification. Keep it up to date.

So make it easy for customers to see:

• On your website, show the MCS Certification Mark near the top of the page and on every solar and battery page. MCS says certified installers can use it on their van, website and marketing.
• On your Google profile, mention it in your description.
• On your quotes, say plainly what the customer gets at handover and how it helps with export payments.

If you belong to a consumer code, say that too. RECC says it’s approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. HIES says its accredited installers work under a code approved by the same body. Only show logos and schemes you’re entitled to.

More on what a trade site needs in websites for trades.

4. Answer the questions homeowners ask before they ring

Most people searching for solar aren’t ready to book. Google’s Keyword Planner shows “solar panels” averaging 74,000 UK searches a month. “solar panel installers near me” averages 2,900. In our view the gap is people still working out whether solar is worth it.

So give them the answers on your own website. A page for each question you get asked on every survey:

• How export payments work, with a link to Ofgem.
• Adding a battery to panels you already have.
• What VAT applies, and until when.
• What happens on the day and at handover.

Each page gives Google something to match and gives the homeowner a reason to trust you before they’ve met you. In our view that’s the stage a bought lead skips. More on how this works in local SEO for trades.

5. Be ready before spring

Solar searches aren’t flat through the year. Google’s Keyword Planner shows “solar panels” at 110,000 UK searches in March and April 2026, against 40,500 in December 2025. “solar panel installers near me” was as busy in September and October as in March and April, at 3,600 a month. It dropped to 1,600 in November and December.

So use the quiet weeks. Get your profile, reviews and pages in place in November and December, before searches climb again in the new year.

There’s a date to know as well. GOV.UK says installing solar panels in homes is zero-rated for VAT from 1 May 2023 to 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 it goes back to the reduced rate of 5%. Adding a battery to existing panels has been zero-rated since 1 February 2024. Customers may ask about this. Put the dates on your website with a link to HMRC’s notice 708/6, and check the notice for which jobs qualify. In our view it should be a fact you explain, not a pressure line in a sales call.

6. Turn every install into the next one

Panels on a roof are seen by the whole street. In our view that makes every install a chance at the next one.

• Take photos of the finished install with one line about the job and the town. Add them to your profile and your website.
• Send your review link the day the system goes live.
• Leave your details in the handover pack, with your review QR code.
• Ask if they’d like to hear from you about a battery or a service later. Only contact the ones who say yes.
• Make sure your van, quotes and profile all show the same name and number, so a neighbour can find you later.

When buying solar leads still makes sense

Owning your enquiries doesn’t mean never paying for any. There are times it’s worth it:

• Google Ads. You pay per click, but you choose the searches, the towns and the budget. You can turn it up in spring and down when the diary’s full. Here’s how we run Google Ads for tradesmen.
• Local Services Ads. Solar isn’t on Google’s UK list for these ads. Electricians are. If you also do electrical work, check what that category covers before you count on it for solar. More on Google Local Services Ads UK and which trades can use them.
• Lead sellers. Useful when you’re new and nobody’s searching for your name yet, or to fill a quiet month. Read the terms first. Check whether leads are shared, whether you can get a refund on a bad one, and whether there’s a minimum spend.

Whichever you use, it’s spend you can switch off. Your profile, reviews and MCS listing stay put when you do.

Questions solar installers ask about getting leads

How much do solar leads cost?

There’s no single price. Each lead seller sets its own. Some publish a price per lead. Others quote on request. Ask whether the price is for a shared or an exclusive lead. On Google Ads, advertisers bid between £9.52 and £28.45 for a top-of-page click on “solar leads” (Keyword Planner, UK). That’s the cost of a click, not a lead.

How do I get solar leads for free?

Start with your Google Business Profile. Google says you can add or claim your business “at no charge”. If you’re MCS certified, you also get a listing on MCS’s Find an Installer tool. Reviews cost you nothing but the ask.

Is buying solar leads legal?

Yes, buying leads is legal in itself. How they’re collected and followed up is what matters. The ICO says you must not make marketing calls to a number on the Telephone Preference Service unless that person has specifically agreed to calls from you. Ask any lead seller how they got consent. If you’re unsure, take advice.

How do I get solar leads without door knocking?

Be easy to find and easy to trust when people search. A complete Google profile, genuine reviews, your MCS certification on show and pages that answer the questions homeowners ask. Then ask every happy customer for a review and a referral.

Can solar installers use Google Local Services Ads?

No, not for solar. It isn’t one of the categories on Google’s UK list. Electricians are on the list, so if you also do electrical work check Google’s sign-up page for what that category covers.

How long before my own leads start coming in?

Nobody can honestly give you a date. It depends on how many installers are chasing the same work in your towns and what you’ve already got in place. That’s why it’s worth starting before the new year, when searches start to climb again.

Solar work you own, not rent

For a solar installer the order matters. Profile and reviews first. MCS on show. Pages that answer the export, battery and VAT questions. All of it in place before spring.

The same approach works across trades. Our guide on how to get more work as a tradesman covers every source, from referrals to Google Ads, and which to start with.

Want to see how many people search for solar in your towns, and which firms show up for those searches now? Our free local forecast shows you.