How do I get my first 5 solar customers?

The fastest path to the first 5 solar installs is a 1,000-postcard mailed solar quote campaign in a single high-income neighborhood ($400K+ median home values, south-facing roofs viable). Total cost: $1,000. At a 15% scan rate and 10% scan-to-deposit conversion, that's ~15 deposits / 5–8 closed installs at $20K average ticket = $100K+ in revenue. Faster than broker leads, faster than door-knocking.

Should I buy broker leads to start?

Broker leads (Modernize, SolarReviews, EnergySage, HomeAdvisor) are the easiest channel to start with but have the worst loaded CAC. Typical pricing: $50–$200 per lead, 1–3% close rate (the lead is shopped to 3–5 competitors), $1,500–$3,000 CAC. They have a role for capacity-fill but shouldn't be the primary engine. Self-generated leads via mailed solar quotes close at 8–15% with CAC in the $250–$500 range.

How do I close more solar deals at the kitchen table?

The biggest single lever is making the homeowner already see their roof with solar BEFORE the appointment. When you arrive for the site survey, the homeowner has already viewed the AI render and the ITC-adjusted savings on the customer portal. The conversation shifts from 'should I do solar?' to 'when can you start?' Solar Launch's customer portal does this automatically per render.

How does the federal solar tax credit help me close?

The 30% federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is the single biggest financial lever in a solar pitch. Surfacing the homeowner's specific ITC-adjusted system cost on the postcard and customer portal (rather than 'save 30%') moves close rates substantially. The ITC runs through 2032 under current IRS rules — every year that passes adds urgency.

Is door-knocking still worth it for solar?

Door-to-door still works for residential solar, but it's expensive — loaded CAC of $1,200–$2,500 per closed install. The play: use D2D as a warm follow-up channel after a neighborhood has been mailed solar quotes 7–14 days prior. The homeowner who saw their roof with solar on a postcard has a different conversation with the knocker than a cold knock.

How to Get Customers for a Solar Business in 2026

Most new solar installers run two acquisition channels: broker leads (expensive, shopped to competitors, low close) and door-knocking (high cost per closed install, brutal on reps). Established installers add Facebook ads and Google ads, which produce mostly tire-kickers. The installers who break out of this loop run mailed solar quotes — and most of them got their first 5 closes from a single $1,000 campaign.

This guide walks through the exact path from zero customers to a predictable solar pipeline.

The first 5 installs: a single campaign playbook

If you're starting from zero, run this exact 45-minute setup:

Pick a target neighborhood. $400K+ median home value (homeowners can write $15K–$40K checks or qualify for financing). Mostly south-facing roofs (check satellite view). 50–150 homes is the sweet spot for a tight first campaign.
Render the street with Solar Launch. Type in the street name. AI renders every viable roof with solar panels. Google Solar API models 25-year savings per home. Free to render — you pay only when you mail.
Mail at $1 per home. 100 postcards = $100. Each shows the homeowner's actual roof with panels installed, their projected monthly savings, and a QR code to a personalized landing page with the federal 30% ITC math applied.
Wait 2–4 weeks. Homeowners scan, see their roof + savings, book refundable site-survey deposits.
Survey + close. Of 100 postcards, expect ~15 scans, ~3–5 deposits, 2–4 installs over 30–90 days.

$100 in. $50K+ in install revenue. The math compounds the moment you run a second campaign in an adjacent neighborhood with route-overlap benefits.

Year-by-year acquisition strategy

Year 1: prove the channel works

Goal: 20–40 closed installs from self-generated channels. Run 5–10 mailed solar quote campaigns across different neighborhoods to find your highest-converting demographic profile. Don't add Facebook ads or buy broker leads in year 1 — focus on the cheapest, highest-converting channel first.

Year 2–3: scale the channel, layer in retargeting + Google brand defense

Goal: 60–120 closed installs. Mailed solar quotes remain 60–70% of the budget. Add retargeting ads (anyone who scans a postcard gets a Facebook/Instagram retargeting flow) and bottom-of-funnel Google ads for brand search defense. Don't expand into broker leads until your self-generated CAC is locked in.

Year 4+: add capacity-fill channels selectively

Goal: 150+ closed installs. Now broker leads make sense as capacity fill when your self-generated channel hits ceiling. Pair them with retargeting so leads that don't close on the broker's first contact get folded back into your nurture flow.

The ITC + financing close

The conversation that closes solar

Most homeowners don't say "no" to solar — they say "I don't know." The shift from "I don't know" to "yes" comes from showing them THREE specific numbers in a row:

Your system: "7.5 kW, 19 panels, south-facing on the back of your roof."
Your monthly: "$187/mo with the federal 30% credit applied — vs your current $260 electric bill."
Your lifetime: "$58,000 in savings over the 25-year panel warranty."

The customer portal generated by Solar Launch surfaces these three numbers automatically, per homeowner, based on Google Solar API analysis of their specific roof. The site-survey conversation starts with the homeowner already having seen the math.

Why broker leads stall installers

Modernize, SolarReviews, EnergySage, and HomeAdvisor are the easiest channel to start with — call a rep, hand over a credit card, leads start arriving. But the unit economics get worse as you scale:

Lead prices climb 10–20% per year as more installers buy from the same pools.
Close rates fall as the same lead gets sold to 3–5 competitors.
Your sales reps burn cycles on tire-kickers who never had budget.
Your CAC creeps from $1,500 to $2,500+ over a few years, and gross margin gets eaten.

Self-generated channels (mailed solar quotes, D2D warm follow-up, neighbor referrals) have the opposite trajectory: CAC compresses as you build neighborhood density and brand recognition.

Site survey conversion math

The site survey is where solar deals close or die. Industry-average close rates from site survey to install:

Cold survey (broker lead, no prior engagement): 25–40%
Warm survey (door-knock, brief conversation): 40–55%
Hot survey (homeowner saw render + savings + ITC math before the appointment): 60–75%

The hot-survey close rate is what mailed solar quotes produce. The homeowner has spent 5–15 minutes on the customer portal before you knock — they've seen the system size, the monthly payment with financing, the ITC math, the warranty terms. The survey becomes a confirmation conversation, not a sales pitch.

Land your first 5 solar installs.

Type in a street. Render every roof with solar. Mail postcards at $1 each with the homeowner's savings on the front. Average return: $32 per $1 spent. First $1,000 campaign is money-back guaranteed.

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