22 September 2026 · 5 min read · Oscar Markham
Why solar leads sold to four installers cost more than they look
Several national sites will sell an Irish solar installer leads at a price that looks perfectly reasonable. The homeowner has filled in one form and is being rung by four companies within the hour. Here is what that actually costs you.
The arithmetic nobody does
If a lead is sold to four installers, your realistic share of the resulting work is a quarter before anything else is considered — and in practice it is worse, because the job usually goes to whoever rang first or quoted lowest.
A lead at €40 sold four ways is effectively costing you €160 or more per genuine opportunity, and you are competing on speed and price rather than on being the right installer.
What it does to your quoting
Being one of four quotes changes how you quote. You price defensively, you strip the specification, and you win the jobs where margin is thinnest.
Installers who move to generating their own enquiries usually report that close rates roughly double even when cost per lead goes up, because the homeowner asked for them specifically.
What your own enquiries look like instead
A lead generated in your own name arrives alone. There is no race, the conversation starts with what the homeowner needs rather than what everyone else quoted, and your reputation and reviews are doing work that they cannot do in a four-way comparison.
It is also an asset. The ad account, the creative and the audience data stay with you, which is not true of anything bought from a third party.
Where shared leads still make sense
One case: filling genuine capacity gaps at short notice, accepted as low-margin work and priced accordingly.
The failure is building a business on them. When the supplier raises prices or adds a fifth buyer, there is nothing underneath.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.