Homeowners ask an assistant whether solar is worth it.
worth it
The payback question, the panel comparison and the shortlist all happen in a chat window now. We put solar companies inside that conversation. ChatGPT Ads for solar installation companies, measured on sat appointments. Exclusive residential solar search leads run $140-$220 in competitive metros.
Tell us a little about your brand and we'll be in touch within 24 hours to lock in a time.
FOUR WORKSTREAMS
Four workstreams behind solar ads that book sits.
book sits
The questions a homeowner asks before they enquire, creative and landing pages built for a specific decision, lead response speed treated as part of the campaign, and conversion tracking that reaches your CRM.
The questions that precede a quote
Creative and landing pages
Lead response speed
Tracking and portfolio fit
Payback, panels, and whether the roof suits.
Nobody starts by searching for a solar company. They start by asking what a system costs, how long the payback really is, whether their roof and their bill make sense, and what happens to the incentives this year. Those conversations are where the shortlist forms.
We map them by the decision behind them rather than by keyword, and separate genuine buying intent from early curiosity so budget is not spread flat across both. The platform now offers three-platform targeting while reporting stays at two buckets, so campaign structure has to carry what the reporting will not tell you.
- Prompt themes mapped to real homeowner decisions
- Buying intent separated from early research
- Geography set to where your crews install
- Structure built to compensate for coarse reporting
7,378
advertisers counted inside ChatGPT in one week
Specific beats enthusiastic.
Solar marketing drowns in the same claims, which is why a generic panel photograph and a savings promise convert so poorly. We write to the specific: what a system on a roof like theirs typically costs in their utility territory, what the install week actually looks like, what your warranty covers, who answers the phone in year four.
Landing pages match the conversation that produced the click rather than dumping everyone on a home page. Solar Facebook leads cost $30-$100, with top performers at $25-$50, and the difference is almost always page and offer quality rather than bidding.
- Copy built on your real install and warranty detail
- A page per decision, matched to the ad
- Qualification questions on roof age and monthly bill
- Video and stills from your own installations
$60-$90
typical solar cost per lead on Meta in 2026
$80-$130
the same benchmark on Google in 2026
The campaign ends at your phone, not at the click.
This is the part of solar marketing most agencies pretend is not theirs. Set-to-sit rates run roughly 55-65% when speed to lead is under five minutes, and collapse when it is not. A campaign delivering good leads into a queue nobody works for three hours will look like a bad campaign.
So we build the handover with you: instant routing into your CRM, real time alerts to whoever is on rota, automated first contact by text where you want it, and a monthly read on response time alongside the lead numbers. Where response speed is the constraint, we say so plainly instead of quietly buying more leads.
- Leads routed to your CRM in real time
- Alerts to the rep on rota, not a shared inbox
- Automated first touch where you want one
- Response time reported beside cost per lead
55-65%
set-to-sit rate when speed to lead is under five minutes
Sat appointments, not clicks.
One published dataset put click-through rate on this platform at 0.50%, so platform metrics alone are close to meaningless here. We track enquiries into your CRM and report the channel on sat appointments and closed installs against the $150-$400 cost per lead range reported for solar on Google Ads.
It runs as a contained test alongside your existing search and social spend, never as a reallocation of what already works, and you get a straight quarterly verdict — including a recommendation to stop if the appointments are not there.
- Conversion tracking wired through to your CRM
- Read on sat appointments and closed installs
- A test budget beside your proven channels
- An honest quarterly verdict, including "stop"
0.50%
click-through rate in a published ChatGPT Ads dataset
$150-$400
reported solar cost per lead on Google Ads
exclusive residential solar search lead cost in competitive metros
cost per lead reached by top solar performers on Facebook
The speed-to-lead standard we build the handover around
Accounts, creative and landing pages in your own name
We made the difference for those brands
Consumer tech and platforms
Apparel and lifestyle
Consumer tech and platforms
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Beauty, personal care & wellness
Travel & mobility
Home essentials, appliances, kitchen & pet
B2B software, fintech, insurance
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Healthcare & regulated services
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Consumer tech and platforms
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Home essentials, appliances, kitchen & pet
Retail & commerce
Healthcare & regulated services
Home essentials, appliances, kitchen & pet
B2B software, fintech, insurance
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Creative, content, arts & culture
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Retail & commerce
Retail & commerce
Food & beverage
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Home essentials, appliances, kitchen & pet
Consumer tech and platforms
B2B software, fintech, insurance
Retail & commerce
Healthcare & regulated services
01 — The challenge
Solar lead costs went up and the funnel moved.
Two things happened at once. Acquisition got dearer — solar clicks now run $5-$15 with leads at $150-$400 on Google Ads — and the first hour of homeowner research moved into a chat window that no solar company was buying.
The result is familiar to every installer. The same lead sources cost more each quarter, the leads arrive slightly less qualified, and the sales team is chasing people who already formed an opinion somewhere the marketing team cannot see.
“They arrive already knowing what they think solar costs. We are arguing with an answer we never got to give.”
The opportunity is that being present in that first conversation is still cheap by solar standards, because most of the industry has not arrived yet. The risk is spending a real budget on a young channel with coarse reporting, which is exactly why we run it as a measured test.
02 — Our approach
Buy the research conversation, then protect the speed to lead.
We start with your economics: average system size, close rate, cost per sat appointment, and what a lead is genuinely worth to you. That gives the campaign a target before a dollar is spent, and it is the number we manage to instead of a platform average.
Next the conversation map. Working from your sales team's real objections — payback period, roof suitability, financing, what happens if you go out of business — we build the prompt themes worth appearing in and the answers your company can give honestly. Creative and landing pages are built per decision from there, using footage of your own installations rather than stock panels.
Then we fix the handover before launch, because it decides everything. Leads route into your CRM in real time, the rep on rota is alerted directly, and response time gets reported every month beside cost per lead.
Finally, a contained launch and an honest read. A test budget alongside your existing channels, weekly management, and a quarterly recommendation to grow, hold or stop — cost-per-click buying now accounts for most of the spend on the platform, and it keeps changing.
03 — What we did
From an untested channel to a measured one.
The same sequence for every solar company entering this channel, whether you install two hundred systems a year or two thousand.
01
What a lead is worth to you
Your close rate, average system value, cost per sat appointment and current lead sources reviewed together, producing the target the campaign will actually be managed to.
02
The conversation map
Your sales team's real objections turned into the prompt themes worth appearing in, with the honest answers only your company can give about install, warranty and financing.
03
Creative, pages and the handover
Ads and landing pages per decision using footage of your own installs, plus real time CRM routing and rep alerts wired and tested before the first dollar is spent.
04
Weekly work, quarterly verdict
Weekly management of budget, themes and creative, a written monthly read on sat appointments and response time, and a straight quarterly recommendation to grow, hold or stop.
WHAT YOU GET
Deliverables you keep, whatever happens next.
you keep
The accounts, the creative, the landing pages and the tracking sit in your own name and billing from the first day.
Lead economics review
Your close rate, system value and current cost per sat appointment worked through together, so the campaign has a real target rather than an industry average.
Conversation and objection map
The prompt themes worth appearing in, built from your sales team's real objections about payback, roof suitability and financing.
Creative from your installs
Ad copy, stills and short video built from your own installation work rather than stock panels, versioned for each decision you are targeting.
Landing pages per decision
Landing pages that match the conversation behind the click, with qualification questions on roof age and monthly bill so your reps get something workable.
Lead routing and response setup
Real time CRM routing, alerts to the rep on rota and an automated first touch where you want one, with response time reported every month.
Monthly read and quarterly verdict
A written monthly review on sat appointments, cost per lead and response time, plus a straight quarterly recommendation to grow, hold or stop.
HOW WE WORK
Operating standards, not promises.
Operating standards
Residential solar
Homeowners working through payback, roof suitability and financing before they will book a sit.
ExploreBattery and storage
Outage and resilience buyers, who ask a different question and convert on different proof.
ExploreCommercial arrays
Facilities and property buyers who want modelled numbers, references and a schedule.
Explore
Built on trust. Proven by results.
We partner with SMBs and Fortune 500 companies to deliver more than reach — we bring clarity, execution, and measurable outcomes. Every successful partnership starts with a strong culture fit and a shared drive to grow.
CASE STUDIES
Case studies
Video Ads
Static Ads
FAQ
Questions installers ask us
Is there enough volume in ChatGPT to matter for solar?
Enough to test seriously, not enough to bet the plan on. Adthena counted 7,378 distinct advertisers in a single week and placements growing 97 times in a quarter, which tells you the inventory is real and filling fast. We size it as a test beside your proven channels and give you a clear verdict at the quarter.
What should a solar lead cost us here?
We target against what you already pay elsewhere rather than a platform benchmark. For context, 2026 benchmarks put solar leads at roughly $60-$90 on Meta against $80-$130 on Google, and exclusive search leads run higher in competitive metros. Your own close rate and system value set the real target.
Our leads are fine but they do not sit. Can you help?
Yes, and it is usually the highest-value thing we do. Set-to-sit runs roughly 55-65% when speed to lead is under five minutes, so we rebuild the handover before launch: real time CRM routing, alerts to the rep on rota, and response time reported monthly beside cost per lead.
How do you measure a channel with such thin reporting?
Outside the platform. Conversion tracking runs through to your CRM with source attribution, and we report sat appointments and closed installs rather than clicks. Platform click data is treated as a diagnostic, never as the result.
Will you use our own footage or stock imagery?
Yours. Stock panel photography is the fastest way to look like every other installer in the market. We work from footage and stills of your crews and your finished arrays, and the assets are yours to reuse anywhere.
How big should the test budget be?
Small enough that a disappointing quarter does not hurt, large enough to produce a readable number of appointments. We size it from your current cost per sit, and we would rather propose a smaller test than an impressive one.
Can you run this alongside our current agency?
Comfortably, and often we do. Plenty of installers keep their search and social where they are and add this channel with us. We share reporting with whoever needs it so nobody is arguing about different numbers.
What about incentive and financing claims?
We keep them accurate and current, and we take the specifics from your finance partners rather than writing them ourselves. Incentive language changes often and an out-of-date claim in an ad is a problem worth avoiding, so it is checked on a set schedule.
Does this help our organic visibility too?
Indirectly, and they work well together. Assistants draw on published material, so the content you own keeps earning its place. Several solar clients pair this with GEO and AEO work for exactly that reason, and others add paid search.
What if it does not produce appointments?
We tell you in writing at the quarterly review and recommend stopping. The work already done — the lead economics, the objection map, the creative and the faster handover — keeps paying in your other channels regardless.
Who owns the accounts and creative?
You do, from day one, in your own billing. The ad accounts, the landing pages, the video and stills and the tracking setup are all yours to keep or move.
Who works on our account?
A named senior lead who knows your close rate and average system value, supported by our analytics team. They write the monthly review themselves and you have their direct line.
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