The short answer
Solar Google Ads clicks typically cost $8 to $45 and raw leads $80 to $300, with non-branded search at the expensive end. A sat appointment commonly costs $300 to $800 once no-shows and unqualified enquiries are filtered out, and a closed job runs into the low thousands on a blended basis.
- 01Four numbers matter: per click, per lead, per sat appointment, per closed job.
- 02Only the last two are comparable across channels.
- 03Conversion rate is the cheapest lever. It affects every number downstream.
- 04Local Services Ads often deliver a lower cost per lead than search in the same market.
Cost per lead is the number everybody quotes and the least useful of the four. Here is the whole chain, with the figures reported across the industry in 2026, and then the part that actually matters.
What does a solar Google Ads lead cost?
| Stage | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | $8 to $45 | Market density, keyword intent, quality score |
| Cost per lead | $80 to $300 | Landing page conversion rate, form length |
| Cost per sat appointment | $300 to $800 | Qualification, reminders, response speed |
| Cost per closed job | Low thousands, blended | Sales process, proof, pricing position |
For context, the broader home improvement category averages roughly $8 a click and about $91 a lead in published benchmarks. Solar sits above that on both, because the job value is high and the auction is crowded.
- $8–45Cost per click, solar search
- $80–300Cost per raw lead
- $300–800Cost per appointment that sits
Why the middle two numbers diverge so much
The gap between cost per lead and cost per sat appointment is where most of the variance in solar advertising lives, and it is almost entirely within your control.
If 45% of your leads sit, a $200 lead costs $444 per appointment. If 15% sit, the same $200 lead costs $1,333. Same traffic, same spend, three times the cost, and the difference is response speed, qualification and reminders rather than anything in the ad account. See cutting the solar appointment no-show rate.
What makes your number higher than the benchmark?
- 01A dense metro. Twenty installers bidding on the same terms pushes clicks to the top of the range and nothing you do changes that.
- 02Broad match with a thin negative list. DIY, jobs and research traffic clicking at $20 each. See Google Ads for solar companies.
- 03Sending traffic to the homepage. A meaningful share of expensive clicks wasted on navigation.
- 04A long form. Every field beyond four costs submissions you already paid for. See solar quote form best practices.
- 05A slow landing page. It costs conversions and raises cost per click through quality scoring at the same time.
- 06A low review count. Paid visitors compare you against the map pack on the same screen, and lose confidence.
How the channels compare
| Channel | Cost per lead | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Google search, non-branded | $150 to $300 | Highest intent, highest price |
| Google search, branded | Low | Cheap, limited volume, defends your name |
| Local Services Ads | Around $53 to $110 | Pay per lead, needs licence and insurance verification |
| Paid social | $25 to $90 | Cheaper and colder, needs a longer follow-up sequence |
| Bought leads | $30 to $150 | Shared, and you are racing three other installers |
Local Services Ads frequently produce a lower cost per lead than search in the same market, and they sit above search in the results. For most installers they are worth running first. See Local Services Ads for solar.
How do you set a target you can defend?
Work backwards from the job rather than forwards from the click. Take your average job value and your gross margin, decide what share of that margin you are willing to spend acquiring the job, and that gives you a maximum cost per closed job.
Divide by your close rate on sat appointments to get a maximum cost per sat appointment, and by your sat rate again for a maximum cost per lead. Now you have a number to judge campaigns against that is derived from your own economics rather than from an industry average that may not resemble your market at all.
The same arithmetic, across every channel
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Common questions
- Why is solar cost per click so high?
- Job value. When a single close is worth tens of thousands, competitors can profitably bid $20 or more a click, and the auction settles where only efficient operators make money. Your defence is conversion rate, not bidding harder.
- How do I lower my solar cost per lead?
- Raise landing page conversion rate first, then tighten negative keywords, then improve quality score through page speed and message match. Bid reductions usually just reduce volume rather than cost per lead.
- Are Local Services Ads cheaper than Google Ads for solar?
- Often, yes, on a per-lead basis, because you pay per lead rather than per click and the placement sits above search results. They require licence and insurance verification, which takes a few weeks to complete.
