Buy Solar Leads UK: Where and How to Buy Exclusive Solar Leads

Where to buy solar leads in the UK

The main options are lead marketplaces, call centres that sell telephone-qualified leads, agencies that run ads for you, and appointment-setting companies that book site surveys. We compared twelve suppliers, ourselves included, from their own websites, in UK solar lead suppliers compared on price, exclusivity and contract. If you would rather build it yourself, the solar lead generation guide covers every channel.

How to buy solar leads: five steps

• Decide what you are buying: an enquiry to chase, or a site survey already in your diary.
• Shortlist suppliers that generate commercial enquiries, not domestic ones relabelled, and ask for an example write-up.
• Get exclusivity in writing: sold to you alone, never resold, including leads you turn down.
• Agree what counts as qualified, and what happens after a no-show or a lead that misses your brief, before you pay.
• Start small, then judge the supplier on cost per attended survey and cost per signed project, not cost per lead.

The three kinds of solar leads you can buy

Most UK solar lead suppliers sell one of three things. They differ less on price than on how much work is left for your team after the lead arrives, and who carries the cost when it comes to nothing.

To see which supplier sells which, with every published price and each one's no-show terms, read our commercial solar leads UK comparison of 12 suppliers and their prices. If you buy from Lead Pronto today, our guide to Lead Pronto alternatives compares six other suppliers on lead type, exclusivity, price and no-show terms.

What a shared lead costs you in practice

Stephen James has built around 220 commercial solar projects in the UK. When he bought leads for a company he worked for, they were shared out to three or four other installers, were not qualified properly and often did not reach the decision-maker; in the end they claimed a lot of the money back. In his words: "You're in competition, you paid for a lead, and suddenly you've got four other companies being sold that same lead." He now buys exclusive leads for Luz Solar, where every meeting is with an MD or finance director.

Commercial solar leads vs domestic solar panel leads

Domestic solar panel leads are a volume game: lots of homeowners, smaller systems, and the same enquiry often sold to several installers. Commercial solar leads (warehouses, factories, farms, offices and retail units) are fewer, but each project is far larger and the sale is slower. One bad commercial lead costs a surveyor a day out of the diary, so qualification and exclusivity matter far more than the price of the lead itself.

That is why commercial installers tend to judge suppliers on the cost of an attended site survey and the cost of a signed project, not the cost per lead. Our commercial solar lead cost guide shows how to work those numbers out, and the lead calculator tells you how many surveys you need each month.

Solar leads for sale: what to check before you buy

• Exclusivity: is the lead sold only to you, or to several installers at once?
• Format: a raw enquiry, a booked appointment, or an appointment that actually took place?
• Qualification: who checked ownership, energy spend, roof suitability and buying intent, and when?
• Source: search ads, social ads, outbound calls, email or bought-in data? Intent differs a lot between them.
• Replacements: what happens after a no-show or a lead that misses your brief?
• Contract: a monthly retainer, a minimum spend, or pay as you go?

Exclusive solar leads: what "exclusive" should mean in writing

Exclusive is the word most suppliers use, and it does not always mean the same thing. Before you pay a premium for exclusive solar leads, get these points confirmed in writing:

For what each costs, who carries the no-show risk and when shared leads can still make sense, see exclusive vs shared commercial solar leads.

• Sold once: the lead or appointment goes to you and to no other installer, now or later.
• Not recycled: a lead you turn down or do not close is not sold on to someone else as fresh.
• Whose name: is the prospect told they are speaking to your company, or to the supplier's own brand?
• The same rule for every product: some suppliers sell both exclusive and cheaper shared leads, so check which one you are buying.
• What happens if it is not: a refund or replacement if you find the prospect was sold elsewhere.

What a qualified commercial solar lead looks like

A qualified commercial solar lead has confirmed decision-maker access, property ownership or landlord consent, annual electricity spend above £30k, a suitable roof, half-hourly metering and a buying window within 3 to 9 months. The full checklist is in our guide to qualifying commercial solar leads.

How TNW Marketing sells commercial solar leads

We book site surveys for UK commercial installers. The detail is on pay per appointment solar leads, and you can hear it from installers in our video reviews.

• Exclusive: each lead goes to one installer and is never shared with a competitor.
• Booked, not sent: you get a site survey with the decision-maker, not a name to chase.
• Vetted first: ownership, energy spend, roof and intent are checked before the booking.
• Pay per booking: £250 to £1,000+VAT per booked appointment, set by system size and qualification. No retainer, no monthly minimum, and an unqualified booking costs you nothing.
• 60%+ of the meetings we book go ahead.
• Some commercial solar sites also need a roof replacement or overcladding first: the booking write-up is where your surveyor will spot it.

Frequently asked questions