How Much Do Solar Leads Cost in Australia in 2026?

If you are a solar installer in Australia, you already know the drill. The phone does not ring on its own. You need leads, and leads cost money. The question every installer eventually asks is: "Am I paying too much?"

The frustrating part is that lead pricing in the solar industry is deliberately opaque. Most lead generation companies will not publish their prices. They want you on a sales call before they reveal anything. That lack of transparency benefits them, not you.

So here is an honest breakdown of what solar leads actually cost in Australia in 2026, based on what installers are reporting in forums, what we see through our own solar leads program, and what the maths looks like when you factor in conversion rates and job margins.

The most common complaint from solar installers on Reddit and Whirlpool is about shared leads. The per-lead price looks reasonable, $50 to $80 seems fair. But when that lead is simultaneously sent to four or five other installers, the dynamics change completely.

Here is what actually happens. The homeowner fills in a form expecting one call. Within minutes, their phone rings five times. By the third call, they are annoyed. By the fifth, they are not picking up. The installer who called first has a massive advantage, and everyone else is burning time and money chasing someone who has already mentally committed to the first quote.

One installer on r/Solarbusiness put it bluntly: "I would call the homeowner and they would say you are the 10th solar person to call." To be fair, not all of those calls are from the same lead being sold 10 times. When a homeowner starts researching solar, ad platforms detect that intent and serve them ads from every installer in the area. They might fill in multiple forms across different sites without realising it. But the end result for you is the same: a fatigued homeowner who is sick of solar calls.

The hidden costs compound further. Each shared lead requires more sales time (multiple follow-ups to stand out), more competitive pricing (race to the bottom on quotes), and more admin work processing leads that never convert. When you factor all of that in, the effective cost of a shared lead is often double or triple the sticker price.

For a detailed comparison, see our guide on exclusive vs shared solar leads.

Lead costs only matter in the context of what you earn from each job. Here is a simple framework for working out whether your lead spend is sustainable.

Take a standard residential 6.6kW installation. After materials, labour, overheads, and the STC discount, a healthy installer margin on a $7,000 job is around 20 to 25%, or $1,400 to $1,750 in gross profit. If your cost per acquisition is $300, that leaves you $1,100 to $1,450 per job. Workable.

If your CPA creeps up to $600 because you are buying shared leads with a 10% close rate, your margin per job drops to $800 to $1,150. Still technically profitable, but uncomfortably thin once you factor in callbacks, warranty work, and the jobs that go sideways.

At a CPA of $800+, the maths stops working for residential solar unless you are upselling batteries or running exceptionally lean operations. This is where many installers get into trouble. They buy cheap shared leads, close at low rates, and wonder why they cannot turn a profit despite being busy.

The rule of thumb: your cost per acquisition should not exceed 15 to 20% of your gross profit per job. For a $7,000 residential system with 25% margin ($1,750 profit), that means keeping your CPA under $350. Use our job margin calculator to run the numbers for your specific pricing.

The most profitable solar installers do not rely on a single lead source. They build a mix of paid and organic channels that reduces their overall cost per acquisition over time.

Solar leads in Australia cost between $35 and $100+ per lead in 2026, but the per-lead price is almost meaningless on its own. What matters is your cost per acquisition, and that depends on lead quality, exclusivity, and your speed to contact.

The installers who are most profitable are not necessarily the ones paying the least per lead. They are the ones who understand their numbers: what each lead channel costs, what it converts at, and what their maximum CPA can be while maintaining healthy margins.

If you are currently spending on shared leads and seeing conversion rates below 10%, seriously consider switching to an exclusive lead source. The per-lead cost may be similar or even lower, and the conversion uplift typically pays for itself many times over.

Want to see what exclusive solar leads look like? Check out our solar leads program for pricing and availability in your area, or use our margin calculator to work out what you can afford to spend per lead.