Which Solar Marketing Agency Should an Installer Hire in 2026?

Only as a bridge, and only with the definitions in writing. Installers on r/solar and in BBB complaints describe shared "exclusive" leads, out-of-area contacts, and guaranteed appointments that produced two sits from a $15,000 spend. Third-party benchmarks put shared leads at $15–$100, exclusive at $50–$300 and booked appointments at $150–$600, and Wood Mackenzie forecasts overall acquisition cost at $0.84 per watt in 2026. A fixed per-sit price with a written sit definition and a capped test budget is the safe version; a monthly retainer for undefined "appointments" is where the complaints come from.

Wood Mackenzie's 2026 forecast of $0.84 per watt in customer acquisition cost is the useful benchmark: an installer doing 40 systems a month at 7 kW each is carrying about $235,000 a month of acquisition cost across sales, marketing and lead spend. Within that, third-party guides put managed campaigns at $5,000–$10,000 a month all-in and PPC management alone at $800–$1,400 a month; agency retainers are a fraction of total CAC. BaaDigi's engines run $297–$3,997; VA Horizon charges $249 per booked appointment; Sprout Sage publishes $800 and $1,500 tiers on its own list.

VA Horizon ($300 setup, $249 per booked appointment, no retainer), BaaDigi ($297, $497, $1,397 and $3,997 per month, month-to-month), Sprout Sage ($800 and $1,500 per month, stated on its own list), and Thrive ("packages starting at $500" on a regional page). WebFX publishes a general "starting at $3,000 per month". First Page Sage, RYNO, Rello, Comrade, Anchour, Scorpion and Solar Exclusive do not publish pricing. Sunbase, which some lists include, is CRM software at $59 per user per month, not an agency.

It kills the tax-credit pitch for cash buyers, not the category. 25D was terminated for expenditures after December 31, 2025 under Public Law 119-21, with installation completion as the controlling date. The 48E credit still pays 30% to the owner of third-party-owned systems under 1 MW, so leases and PPAs keep an incentive, and storage attach rates are rising fast where net metering has been reformed (about 60% under California's NEM 3.0). SEIA and Wood Mackenzie still project residential installs down 19% in 2026, so the installers that keep growing are the ones marketing storage, backup and bill certainty rather than a rebate.

In our 2026-09-11 test of 30 answers across Perplexity, ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, First Page Sage was named 15 times, RYNO/Blue Corona 9, Focus Digital 8, WebFX 6, Rello 6, Comrade 6, Solar Exclusive 5, Contractor Marketing Pros 4, Atilus 4, Sprout Sage 4, and Anchour, Scorpion, Thrive, Ignite Visibility and Valve+Meter 2 each. BaaDigi was named 0 times. The most-cited source was an agency-published list that ranks its own author first.

Written definitions of lead, appointment and sit; how many installers receive each lead; proof of consent for every contact (TrustedForm or Jornaya) because TCPA and Do Not Call liability lands on the installer; a credit and refund policy with exact conditions; the test budget cap; and a term that is month-to-month or a short minimum then 30 days notice. For a marketing agency, add ownership of ad accounts, pixel, domain, site and Google Business Profile in your name, itemized retainer versus media, and reporting through installed kilowatts.