A US solar lead costs about $25–$100 shared, $100–$250 exclusive and $150–$500 as a booked appointment, according to directional 2026 ranges published by ActiveProspect. The number that matters is cost per installed system: at $175 per exclusive lead and assumed conversion rates, that is about $2,745 per install.
At a glance: how much a solar lead costs in the US
US solar lead prices run from under $10 for aged data to $500 for a booked appointment, and price per lead does not rank cost per install.
- Published ranges: ActiveProspect’s July 2026 table lists aged leads at $0.10–$10+, shared marketplace leads at $25–$100, exclusive at $100–$250 and booked appointments at $150–$500. These are vendor-compiled estimates, not audited prices.
- The test: cost per installed system = lead price ÷ (lead-to-sit rate × close rate × install rate). We call it the Cost-per-Install Test.
- The budget it must fit: EnergySage’s cost breakdown puts sales and marketing at $5,604, or 18%, of an average $31,135, 12 kW system before incentives.
- What changed: the IRS says the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit “is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025”, so close rates measured before 2026 may overstate what a lead is worth now.
How it works
The Cost-per-Install Test for US solar leads
Record the lead price
Note what you pay per shared lead, exclusive lead or booked appointment from each source.
Measure sits and closes
From your CRM, take each source’s lead-to-sit rate and sit-to-contract rate since January 2026.
Divide to cost per install
Divide the lead price by sit rate times close rate times install rate.
Check it fits the budget
Compare the result with your sales and marketing budget per system, after commissions and design costs.
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How much do solar leads cost in the US in 2026?
US solar leads cost from $0.10 for aged records to $500 for a booked appointment in 2026, according to ActiveProspect’s published directional ranges.
| Solar lead type | Published typical cost (USD) | What you are buying |
|---|---|---|
| Aged lead | $0.10–$10+ | Old contact data; needs heavy re-contact |
| Shared marketplace lead | $25–$100 | A form fill sold to several installers |
| Real-time lead | $40–$120 | A fresh form fill delivered as it happens |
| Exclusive marketplace lead | $100–$250 | A form fill sold to one installer |
| Inbound call | $100–$300+ | A homeowner on the phone |
| Booked appointment | $150–$500 | A consultation already in the calendar |
| Door-to-door appointment | $200–$400+ | An appointment set at the door |
Source: ActiveProspect, “How much do solar leads cost?” (July 31, 2026), which compiles estimates from The Leads Warehouse and Enervio and calls them “directional market benchmarks, not fixed rates.” ActiveProspect sells lead-verification software, so read the ranges as one vendor’s view of the market. Your own quotes will vary by state, ZIP code, volume and qualification rules.
The quotable line: a US solar lead price only tells you what one record costs, not what one installed system costs.
Want this done for you? We book qualified sales appointments on a Pay-Per-Result basis — you only pay for calls that actually land in your calendar.
What does a solar lead cost per installed system?
A solar lead’s cost per installed system is its price divided by the share of leads that become installs: $1,882 to $2,745 in this model.
Lead prices are points inside ActiveProspect’s published ranges. Every conversion rate is our labeled assumption; no public source we could verify reports US solar lead-to-install rates on a stated denominator. Replace them with your CRM numbers.
| Line | Shared lead | Exclusive lead | Booked appointment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per unit (inside published range) | $60 | $175 | $325 |
| Becomes a sat consultation (assumption) | 15% | 30% | 70% |
| Sat consultation to signed contract (assumption) | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| Signed contract reaches install (assumption) | 85% | 85% | 85% |
| Units bought per installed system | 31.4 | 15.7 | 6.7 |
| Lead cost per installed system | $1,882 | $2,745 | $2,185 |
| Share of a $31,135 system (EnergySage average) | 6.0% | 8.8% | 7.0% |
Worked end to end for the exclusive column: 30% × 25% × 85% = 6.375% of leads become installs. 1 ÷ 0.06375 = 15.7 leads per install. $175 ÷ 0.06375 = $2,745. The shared column looks cheapest here only because we assumed one in seven shared leads sits with you; if your team reaches them slower than competitors do, that rate falls and the order changes.
For the same arithmetic applied to any booked call, see how to calculate cost per booked call.
How much can a US solar installer afford to pay per install?
A US solar installer’s whole sales and marketing budget is about $5,604 per average system, 18% of price, in EnergySage’s breakdown.
EnergySage’s solar cost page (updated June 30, 2026; marketplace data refreshed October 2, 2026) gives an average 12 kW system at $31,135 before incentives and splits it by component, with sales and marketing at $5,604 (18%) based on a 2021 National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) study. The same page reports that Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s October 2025 report found a 2024 median cash price of $3.50 per watt, which EnergySage says is almost $1 per watt above its own average quote.
That $5,604 has to cover the lead, the salesperson’s commission or wage, the proposal and the design. In the model above the exclusive lead alone takes $2,745, almost half of it. An installer paying sales commission on top should know their own split before signing a lead contract.
The quotable line: in US residential solar, the lead has to fit inside a sales and marketing slice of roughly 18% of system price, alongside everything else that sale costs.
If we can’t make you money, we don’t deserve yours.
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How did the end of the 25D credit change solar lead costs?
The end of the 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit raised homeowners’ net price, which can cut close rates and raise every lead’s cost per install.
The IRS Residential Clean Energy Credit page says the credit equaled 30% of qualified costs for property installed from 2022 through December 31, 2025, and “is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.” We have not seen a published measure of how US close rates moved after that date, so the table shows the effect of an assumed drop on the exclusive-lead column above.
| Sat-to-contract close rate (assumption) | Leads per install | Exclusive-lead cost per install at $175 |
|---|---|---|
| 35% | 11.2 | $1,961 |
| 25% | 15.7 | $2,745 |
| 15% | 26.1 | $4,575 |
A fall from 25% to 15% raises the cost per install by 67% at the same lead price. Re-measure close rate on consultations held since January 2026 before renewing a lead contract.
Shared, exclusive or appointment: which solar lead type is cheapest per install?
Which solar lead type is cheapest per install depends mostly on how fast your team calls, because a shared lead is a race against every other installer who bought it.
| If your team… | Usually cheapest per install | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Calls every lead within minutes, evenings included | Shared or real-time leads | You win the race often enough to beat the low price |
| Calls within a few hours on weekdays | Exclusive leads | No competitor on the same record |
| Has closers but no one to set appointments | Booked appointments | You pay for the setting work instead of hiring it |
| Has a backlog of quoted homeowners who never signed | None: work the backlog first | Those records cost nothing more to buy |
The last row is the one most installers skip. Quotes that stalled before 2026 are now pricing a different deal, and re-contacting them is covered in our database reactivation guide. On contact speed, see speed to lead for trade businesses.
What does generating your own solar leads cost?
Generating your own US solar leads swaps the per-lead price for ad spend and setter hours, and pays off only if your cost per install is lower.
Run the Cost-per-Install Test on your own channel the same way: total monthly cost (ads, software, setter wages) ÷ installs that channel produced. Most of the cost is people. A setter who calls every new lead within minutes, follows up for weeks and covers evenings is a full-time job, and the 15.7 exclusive leads per install in our model mean many dials per signed contract. For outside options, see the US solar lead generation agency shortlist and how AI appointment setting handles calling and follow-up; LeadsNow has booked 50,769+ sales appointments with AI since 2017.
FAQ: US solar lead costs
US solar lead cost questions below use the published ActiveProspect ranges and the labeled assumptions from the model on this page.
How much does an exclusive solar lead cost?
ActiveProspect’s July 2026 solar lead price guide lists exclusive marketplace leads at $100–$250 and shared leads at $25–$100, as directional ranges rather than fixed rates.
Is the 30% federal solar tax credit still available in 2026?
Not for homeowners. The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025. This is general information, not tax advice.
What is a good cost per installed system for solar leads?
No verified public benchmark exists. Compare your lead cost per install against your sales and marketing budget; EnergySage puts that line at 18% of an average system price.
Are booked solar appointments worth the higher price?
They can be if you lack setters. In our model a $325 appointment cost $2,185 per install against $2,745 for a $175 exclusive lead, at assumed rates you should replace with your own.
How many solar leads does it take to get one install?
It depends on your rates. At an assumed 30% sit rate, 25% close rate and 85% install rate, it takes about 15.7 exclusive leads per installed system.
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