If you want solar leads now, PPC can put you in front of motivated homeowners today. The challenge is doing it profitably. This guide shows you how to structure campaigns, pick keywords, craft ads, set budgets, build high-converting pages, track the full funnel and benchmark CPL so you can scale what works and cut what doesn’t.
What PPC means in solar and when it works best
PPC for solar leads is paid traffic from platforms like Google Search, YouTube and Facebook that drives homeowners to book a call, request a quote or complete a virtual assessment. It works best when you target high-intent searches, route traffic to fast, credible landing pages and feed back real sales outcomes to the ad platforms. Use PPC when you need predictable pipeline, want to test new markets, or to cover seasonal slowdowns while SEO matures. Avoid broad, unfocused targeting and generic offers that lead to high CPL and low appointment rates.
Campaign architecture that wins in solar
Google Search: capture high intent with tight control
Search is your highest-intent channel for solar PPC leads. Build campaigns around buyer-intent phrases using exact and phrase match, reserve broad match for controlled experiments with robust negatives. Group keywords by intent and location so you can tailor ads and landing pages.
- High-intent keywords: solar installation near me, solar companies in [city], home solar quote, residential solar installer, best solar installer [city]
- Mid-intent keywords: solar panels cost, solar savings calculator, solar incentives [state]
- Negative keywords to add early: jobs, DIY, used, free energy, calculator only, Tesla car, batteries only, wind, garden lights, rental, apartment
- Ad extensions: sitelinks for financing, incentives, case studies; callouts for $0 down options; structured snippets for services
- Landing page alignment: mirror the query in your H1 and hero, show local proof and a clear next step
Start with Manual CPC or Maximize Conversions and move to Target CPA after 30 to 50 conversions. Use ZIP-level geos to control spend density and exclude low-likelihood areas like student housing zones and predominantly rental ZIPs.
Facebook and Instagram: create demand and retarget efficiently
Meta ads work for both demand creation and retargeting. Quality depends on offer clarity and form friction. Lead forms lower CPL but can reduce intent; website conversions cost more per lead but often produce higher appointment rates.
- Audiences: homeowners interests, solar lookalikes from closed-won lists, retarget all site visitors past 90 days, finance-savvy interests
- Formats: square video for the feed, 15-second vertical video for Reels/Stories, carousel for before-after roofs and bill reductions
- Offers: instant savings estimate, eligibility check for incentives, free virtual solar assessment
- Guardrails: add qualifying questions if you use lead forms, set automated replies with a scheduling link, sync to CRM to trigger fast follow-up
If you are weighing tooling to speed lead-to-appointment and sales, see our
solar lead management platform comparison to make an informed choice.
Use Conversion objective with the pixel and aggregated events configured, or Lead objective with custom thank-you redirect to your site for tracking and education.
YouTube and Discovery: efficient mid-funnel scale
YouTube lets you educate quickly at scale. Pair in-stream skippable videos with custom intent audiences based on your search keywords and competitor domains. Discovery can amplify your best creatives across Gmail and the Discover feed.
- Audiences: custom intent built from solar installer keywords, in-market for home improvement, homeowners-aged 30-65
- Placements: exclude kids content and gaming categories, layer on location targeting identical to Search
- Creative goals: hook within 3 seconds, show the savings story, reinforce local trust and a single clear CTA
Optimize to micro-conversions first, then to qualified leads as you gather 30 to 50 conversions per week.
Ad copy and creative that speak to homeowner pain points
Homeowners respond to clarity, local relevance and concrete outcomes. Your ad should remove doubt and make the next step obvious.
- Lead with the problem: tired of rising utility bills, blackout worries, rate hikes
- Make savings tangible: average bill before vs after, payback window, $0 down examples
- Localize: incentives in [state], utility-specific rates, neighborhood installs
- Remove risk: no house visit needed, virtual assessment, price-locked quotes
- Straight talk: avoid jargon, clarify what happens after the click, set expectations
Use at least three ad angles per ad set: savings-first, incentive-eligibility, reliability/backup power. Rotate creatives every 2 to 3 weeks to fight fatigue.
Video ad structure that consistently converts
Structure solar video ads in four beats that respect viewer attention and intent.
- Hook 0-3s: call out the homeowner and the pain or desire, eg. Tired of 20 percent bill hikes in [city]
- Problem 3-8s: show the bill or rate chart and why it keeps rising
- Solution 8-20s: show a quick roof scan, projected savings and incentive eligibility
- CTA 20-30s: one action, eg. See your instant savings estimate
15-second template: Bill keeps climbing in [city]? In 60 seconds see if your roof qualifies and how much you can save with local incentives. No house visit. Tap to check eligibility.
30-second template: If your power bill went from 120 to 185, it’s not your usage. Rates are up. With a quick virtual assessment, we map your roof, estimate savings and check [state] incentives. Most homeowners qualify for $0 down. See your estimate now.
Geo targeting, budgets and bidding
Solar performance varies by sunshine, incentives, utility rates and home stock. Plan your geo and budget accordingly.
- Geo: target ZIPs with high homeownership and detached homes, exclude renter-heavy ZIPs, test separate campaigns for utility territories
- Budget: start Search at 50 to 100 per day per market, Meta at 30 to 60 per ad set, YouTube at 40 to 80. Scale after you hit stable CPL and appointment rates
- Bidding: start with Maximize Conversions, switch to Target CPA at 1.2x your desired CPL once you have enough volume. For Meta, use highest volume bidding until you hit 50 conversions per week
- Ad schedule: prioritize evenings and weekends if your contact rate is higher, but keep a small budget for daytime to feed the algorithm
Keep branded search separate. Guard it with low budgets and high exact-match priority. Use shared negatives to avoid cannibalization between campaigns.
Landing pages that convert solar prospects
Most PPC waste happens after the click. A focused landing experience can double conversion and cut CPL in half.
- Message match: use the same promise as your ad in the H1 and hero
- Speed: sub 2 seconds on mobile, compressed images, no heavy scripts
- Trust: local installs, licenses, warranties, utility territory experience
- Offer: instant savings estimate, eligibility check or virtual assessment, not a generic contact form
- Form: ask essentials only first name, email, phone, address, utility. Add secondary steps after initial submit
- Education: short explainer of incentives and financing, simple bill-to-savings examples
- Proof of next step: show what happens after submit and average timeline
Where Enervio helps: you can use Enervio’s AI education agent to answer homeowner questions on-page, collect property characteristics remotely and generate a personalized proposal request with 3D roof visuals. This reduces friction, increases lead quality and accelerates the path to a booked appointment without a site visit.
Tracking, qualification and full-funnel KPIs
Optimize PPC to real outcomes, not just form fills. Set up end-to-end tracking and score leads by quality.
- Conversion tracking: Google Ads conversions or enhanced conversions for leads, Meta pixel conversions or CRM offline events
- Offline conversion import: send qualified appointment and sold status back to Google and Meta with gclid/fbclid to train algorithms
- Quality filters: verify address type single-family vs apartment, require utility name, bill estimate and roof shading status
- Speed-to-lead: call or SMS within 2 minutes, then cadence of 5 touches in 48 hours
Monitor the full journey weekly and optimize the weakest link first.
- Click through rate CTR: creative relevance
- Landing conversion rate CVR: offer and friction
- Lead to appointment rate: lead quality and follow-up
- Show rate and close rate: sales process and fit
- CPL and CPA appointment: cost efficiency
When modeling CPL, CPA and ROI, factor in the
cost of a solar site visit and tighten pre‑visit qualification to reduce wasted truck rolls.
Benchmarks for CPC, CVR, CPL and timelines
Actual performance varies by market, incentives and competition. These typical US ranges can guide planning and diagnosis.
| Channel |
Typical CPC |
Lead CVR |
Typical CPL |
Lead to Appt |
| Google Search high intent |
8 - 30 |
8 percent - 20 percent |
150 - 400 |
35 percent - 60 percent |
| Meta website conversions |
0.80 - 3.00 CPM driven |
3 percent - 10 percent |
90 - 250 |
25 percent - 45 percent |
| Meta lead forms |
0.60 - 2.50 CPM driven |
n a direct |
40 - 120 |
10 percent - 30 percent |
| YouTube in-stream |
0.05 - 0.20 CPV |
1 percent - 4 percent |
80 - 250 |
20 percent - 40 percent |
Timeline expectations:
- Learning phase: 2 to 3 weeks to stabilize CTR and CVR
- Qualified lead signal: import offline conversions by week 3 to 4
- Target efficiency: 6 to 8 weeks to hit steady CPL and appointment rate
Diagnosis tips: high CPC and low CTR means mismatched keywords or weak ads. Good CTR but low CVR means landing or offer issues. Good CVR but poor appointment rate means low intent; adjust qualifiers or switch from lead forms to website conversions.
Incentives and offers that lift conversion
Strong offers lower CPL without sacrificing quality. Anchor your promise in programs homeowners care about and can act on.
- Federal tax credit eg. ITC up to 30 percent, with a clear qualifier that eligibility varies
- State or utility rebates relevant to your territory with dollar examples
- Financing options including $0 down and fixed APR ranges
- Bonus value limited-time energy audit, bill analysis or battery-ready design
- Guarantees where allowed price lock, timeline, workmanship, production
Keep offers compliant. Avoid implying guaranteed savings if your market is variable rate or if program funding fluctuates. Use your thank-you page to set expectations and prompt scheduling immediately.
FAQs
What is PPC in solar
Pay-Per-Click in solar is paid media on platforms like Google, YouTube and Facebook where you pay per click or view to drive homeowners to convert on a quote request, eligibility check or virtual assessment. The win is fast, controllable traffic that you can scale by market and season.
How do you get PPC leads for solar
Use exact and phrase match high-intent keywords on Google, pair with fast, locally relevant landing pages and a single clear offer. On Meta, run creative that highlights bill pain, incentives and $0 down options, then retarget site visitors. Qualify with address and utility, respond within 2 minutes and import offline outcomes so algorithms optimize for appointments and sales, not just cheap form fills.
What is a reasonable cost per lead
For residential solar in competitive US markets, a typical PPC CPL ranges from 150 to 400 on Google Search, 80 to 250 on YouTube and 40 to 250 on Meta depending on whether you use lead forms or website conversions. The more important metric is cost per kept appointment and cost per sale. Track both.
How much commission do solar salespeople earn
Commission structures vary widely by company and market. Many organizations pay a mix of base plus commission or pure commission per kilowatt sold, often resulting in a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per system. Align compensation with lead source quality to encourage proper follow-up.
Get more from every PPC lead with Enervio
Enervio does not run PPC campaigns for you. What we do is help you turn more ad clicks into qualified appointments and faster proposals.
- On-page AI education agent that answers questions and reduces drop-off
- Remote property data capture to pre-qualify roofs without a site visit
- Instant proposal requests with solar simulations and 3D visuals
- One-click quotes that shorten the time from lead to offer
The result is higher landing page conversion, better lead quality and lower effective CPL and CAC from the PPC you already buy. If you want to pair proven PPC structure with a post-click experience built to convert, request a demo of Enervio.
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