Should You Buy Solar Leads, Build a Website, or Join a Partner Program?
By Solar Cost Predictor Team · March 22, 2026 · 8 min read
Once the licensing, insurance, and equipment pieces of starting a solar business are in place (see our full startup guide), the next question is almost always the same: how do you actually get in front of homeowners who are ready to talk? Here's an honest comparison of the three most common approaches.
Option 1: Buying Shared Leads
Lead aggregators sell the same homeowner inquiry to multiple installers simultaneously, who then compete to close it first. This gets you leads quickly with no website or marketing infrastructure needed, but per-lead costs are typically high in solar given the deal size, and you're racing other installers (sometimes 4-8 of them) on the exact same prospect -- meaning a meaningful share of what you pay for goes to leads someone else closes first.
Option 2: Your Own Branded Website and Calculator
Building your own web presence with an embedded, personalized estimate calculator means every lead that comes through it is exclusively yours -- no competing installers bidding on the same inquiry. It also builds a durable asset: organic search traffic and referral links compound over time instead of resetting with every new lead purchase. The tradeoff is more upfront effort and some ongoing cost to build and maintain, though embeddable calculator tools built specifically for solar installers have made this dramatically faster to set up than building custom software from scratch -- many installers are live on their own site within a day, with a free trial to test it before paying anything.
Option 3: An Exclusive Local Partner Program
A middle path: some lead programs guarantee exclusivity by limiting placement to one installer per city, rather than selling the same lead to multiple competitors. Our Partner Program works this way -- a flat monthly fee for exclusive visibility to homeowners using our calculator in your city, with no per-lead fees or commissions on top. This avoids both the "racing other installers" problem of shared leads and the upfront build effort of a fully custom website.
Which Should You Choose?
A reasonable approach for a genuinely new business: start with an exclusive local program or your own embedded calculator rather than shared leads, since exclusivity means every dollar spent goes toward a prospect who isn't simultaneously being chased by three other installers. Many growing solar businesses eventually run both their own website and an exclusive partner placement in parallel, treating shared lead-buying as a supplemental, carefully measured channel rather than a primary one given its typically weaker return per dollar spent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are shared solar leads worth buying?
They can generate volume quickly, but because the same lead is sold to multiple installers, your effective cost per closed deal is often higher than it first appears -- worth tracking your actual close rate and cost-per-sale from shared leads specifically before relying on them heavily.
How fast can I get my own solar calculator live on a website?
With an embeddable calculator tool built specifically for solar installers, many businesses are live on their own site within a day, versus weeks or months to build custom estimate software from scratch.
What makes exclusive leads different from shared leads?
Exclusive lead placement (whether through your own website or a program like an installer partner placement) means you are the only installer that specific lead sees -- no other business is simultaneously bidding on or contacting the same homeowner.