Solar leads: homeowners asking which installer to trust

Solar leads near me: where homeowners ask about installers

Most of the requests we read were in the UK and Australia; in the US we found only a few in each state. People weigh solar wherever they pay an electricity bill, so the requests near you sit in the places your own customers already talk:

• The solar subreddits of your country, where people post their quotes for a sanity check: r/SolarUK in the UK, r/AusSolar and r/Aus_RenewableEnergy in Australia, r/solar and r/TeslaSolar in the US.
• City subreddits, where a homeowner asks the neighbours who did their solar. The search "anyone used" solar company found these in r/Clarksville, r/BellevilleIL and r/perth.
• Regional solar groups on Facebook, such as DFW Solar around Dallas and Fort Worth, where one homeowner asked for an installer in our three days.
• Home renovation subreddits, where solar comes up next to a new roof, a heat pump or air conditioning, as on r/AusRenovation and r/ukheatpumps.

To find your town's groups, search Facebook for your town or county with words like community, homeowners, recommendations or ask. Read a week of posts before you add one. A small group where a homeowner asks about solar every week beats a big one full of installers' ads.

Honestly, if you install in one US state, the big solar subreddits will mostly show you UK and Australian homeowners. Your own city's subreddit and town groups matter more.

Search phrases that find residential solar leads

People rarely write "solar leads". They write the decision they are stuck on. These are the searches that found requests in our read; try each alone and with your town's name:

• Checking a quote: solar quote "is this fair", "solar quote", "solar battery" quote. In our read the quote checks found the most requests.
• Asking who to use: "anyone used" solar company.

Phrases like "solar company recommendations", "looking for a solar installer" or "solar company went out of business" found almost nothing in our three days on their own; try them with your town's name.

Add the words of your country: a UK homeowner asks about a solar PV quote, an MCS installer and the grid paperwork, an Australian one about full house backup and the battery rebate. A phrase with your town's name finds fewer posts, but the ones it finds are near you.

Which solar panel leads to answer first

Not every post is worth the same minutes. Answer in this order:

1. A direct ask for names with a place: a homeowner asking their city's subreddit who did their solar, or which company to use. They have not picked anyone yet.
2. A stranded system: the installer closed or stopped answering, a battery is down, the warranty is unclear. They need a company soon, and a service visit is a real job.
3. A battery or a repair for a system someone else installed: a smaller job that fewer installers chase, for a customer who already knows what solar costs.
4. A quote check that names a place. Most of the requests we read were these. Some posters are still choosing and others have already picked their installer, so read the whole post before you write.
5. "Is solar worth it in my town?" from a homeowner with their bill in hand: an honest answer with their rates and roof wins trust before any quote exists.

Skip installers and sales reps posting their own offers, off-grid and van builds, people arguing about net metering or the tax credit with no plan to hire, and the person selling used panels. Hodorak leaves those out and marks each request with its level, so the first ones on your board are the ones to open.

Replies that turn solar installer leads into site visits

The reply above shows the pattern. A good reply reads like an installer who reads proposals every day, not like an ad:

• Answer the same day where you can: other installers reply too, and an early, specific answer is more likely to be read.
• Read their numbers back to them: the system size, the panels and inverter named, the battery, the warranty years.
• Say what you would check: the roof's direction and shade, the usage on the bill, whether a battery pays off on their tariff.
• Close with one line on who you are: the company name and the towns you cover.
• Follow the group's rules on self-promotion, and move to a direct message only when the person asks.

Avoid a pasted ad, a link as the whole reply, or a price before you have seen the roof and the bill. Those get skipped, and in many groups they get removed.

Exclusive solar leads, shared leads or public requests

The table above shows what lead companies publish today. If you buy solar leads, the difference from a public request is not only the price:

• Shared leads: the same homeowner is sent to two, three or four installers at once, so speed matters from the first call.
• Exclusive leads: the lead goes to you alone, at a higher price; the homeowner asked for quotes through a form, so the first call is still a cold one.
• Public requests: the person asked in their own words, in a place they trust, often with the quote they already hold. Anyone in the group can answer, so a quick and specific reply matters, but nobody sold that person to you.

Some installers mix the two: bought leads for volume, public requests for the jobs where trust decides.

Solar lead generation as a daily habit

• Open your board in the morning and again in the evening, so a quote check gets an answer the same day.
• Answer the direct asks and the stranded systems first, then the quote checks.
• Add one new source a week: a town group, a state subreddit, a search with a new town's name.
• Keep a short note of the phrases that brought the jobs you signed, and drop the ones that bring only sellers.