What does solar lead generation actually cost in the UK?

Ask five agencies what solar lead generation costs and you'll get five numbers - and every one of them is measuring something different. One quotes a monthly retainer. One quotes a price per lead. One quotes a percentage of sales. So installers end up comparing figures that were never comparable, and the cheapest-looking option quietly turns out to be the dearest.

This guide untangles it. Not with a made-up "average UK cost" - there isn't a reliable one, and anyone quoting one is guessing - but with the four models you'll actually be offered, what each really charges for, and the single figure that lets you compare them honestly.

Why is there no straight answer on solar lead generation cost?

Because "a lead" isn't a standard unit. A form filled in on a comparison site and resold to several installers is one product. A homeowner who searched for an installer, saw your name and rang your number is a completely different one, even though both get called a lead. Price follows the product: exclusivity, freshness, intent and how competitive your area is all move the number. So the question "what does a solar lead cost?" has to be rephrased before it can be answered: cost of which kind of lead, and what happens when it's not genuine?

What are the four pricing models actually charging for?

• Monthly retainer. A fixed fee for the agency's time and management, usually with the ad budget paid on top. You're buying effort, not outcomes: the fee is due in a month that produces nothing. Ask what share of your total monthly spend actually reaches Google.
• Percentage of sales. The agency takes a cut of each installation. Incentives are better aligned, but you're sharing margins and job values, and the agency is paid for your sales team's work as well as its own.
• Pay per lead. A price per contact delivered - the model most bought-lead sellers use. The detail that decides everything is whether the lead is exclusive or shared, and whether junk is credited back. We've compared that route in depth in buying solar leads vs generating your own.
• Pay per call. A price per live phone call that meets a written definition. You pay for conversations, not contacts, and nothing when the phone is quiet. This is the model Panel Reach runs: £30 per qualified call, no retainer, no set-up fee.

Notice that only the last two charge for a result at all. Under the first two, the cost of solar lead generation is a cost you carry whether or not any leads are generated.

Why does cost per lead mislead?

Because it stops one step too early. The number you can spend is cost per lead; the number you actually feel is cost per booked survey - what it took to get a real homeowner at their kitchen table with a quote in front of them. Two sources can have identical costs per lead and wildly different costs per survey, depending on how many of those leads were resold, uncontactable, outside your area, or never serious. A cheap lead with a low conversion rate is an expensive survey. Measure the second number and the "cheapest" option often changes.

How do you calculate cost per booked survey?

Take one source over one month. Add up everything you paid it - fees, per-lead charges, any ad budget passed through. Count the surveys that source actually produced (this is where call tracking earns its keep, because it tells you which source each call came from). Divide the spend by the survey count. Do the same for every source you use, then compare. It takes ten minutes a month and it's the only comparison that survives contact with your bank statement.

What does £30 per call really mean?

It means the price attaches to a definition, not a promise. A call is billable only if it lasts 60 seconds or longer, arrives in business hours, comes from inside your agreed service area, and is a genuine solar installation enquiry. Wrong numbers, suppliers, recruiters and hang-ups are struck off before the invoice is raised. So the cost of a bad month is zero, and the cost of a good month is transparent to the penny - a log of every call with its source, duration and area, which you can check against your own phone. That's the whole of our solar marketing service priced: the ads, the landing page and the tracking are included, and the only line on the bill is calls that qualified.

Which model fits your business?

If you have steady demand and want an agency's full attention on a broad brand campaign, a retainer can make sense - as long as you go in knowing it's paid regardless. If you're comfortable sharing job values, commission aligns incentives. If you want the risk to sit with whoever's producing the enquiries, pay-per-result is the structure that does it, and pay-per-call is the version that pays for conversations rather than contacts. Whichever you shortlist, our guide to choosing a solar marketing agency covers the questions that separate a serious operator from an invoice factory.

Want to know what your area would produce before you spend a pound? Book a free 20-minute call. If your patch is already exclusive to another installer, we'll tell you in the first five minutes.