Marketing for solar energy means putting your company in front of people deciding whether to install panels and turning that contact into a technical visit. The consumer click costs little relative to the size of the sale: in our October 2026 survey, the industry’s average top-of-page bid was R$5.37. The hard part is the broad search. “Energia solar” (solar energy) gets 110,000 searches a month, and many of them come from people who just want to understand how it works or see prices. The job is to attract people with a high electric bill and their own roof, and filter out the rest.
How much a click costs in solar energy marketing
A click from someone searching for solar energy runs between R$1.11 and R$10.44 at the top of the page, depending on the search. The numbers come from our CPC survey by industry, done in the Google Ads Keyword Planner. Read them as the bid Google estimates for the top of the page in October 2026, not what each company pays.
| Search | Searches per month | Top-of-page bid (min. to max.) |
|---|---|---|
| solar energy | 110.000 | R$2.06 to R$8.74 |
| solar panel price | 1.900 | R$1.11 to R$5.75 |
| residential solar energy | 880 | R$2.02 to R$9.38 |
| solar energy installation | 480 | R$2.71 to R$10.44 |
| Solar energy industry (average) | 113.260 | R$5.37 (range R$2.05 to R$8.70) |
A heads-up so you don’t mix up the numbers. The search “marketing para energia solar” (solar energy marketing) has a bid of up to R$59 in Keyword Planner. That is the price agencies pay to sell marketing to the industry. The click from your customer, the homeowner who wants to cut their power bill, costs R$5.37 on average.
The table shows where the intent is. “Energia solar” (solar energy) alone accounts for 110,000 of the industry’s 113,260 searches and mixes students, curious people and buyers. “Instalação de energia solar” (solar energy installation) has only 480 searches, but whoever types it has already decided to install, which is why the top-of-page bid reaches R$10.44.
What 54 solar energy companies at the top of Maps show
In October 2026 we surveyed the 54 profiles Google Maps shows first for “empresa de energia solar” (solar energy company) in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, and we reviewed 43 of the websites. The top has high ratings, few reviews and slow websites.
| What we measured | Solar energy companies |
|---|---|
| Profiles analyzed | 54 |
| Average rating | 4,86 |
| Median reviews | 52,5 |
| With 100 reviews or more | 17% |
| With fewer than 20 reviews | 15% |
| No website on the profile | 0% |
| Sites with Tag Manager | 53% |
| Sites with GA4 in the code | 28% |
| Sites with no Tag Manager and no GA4 | 35% |
| Sites with Google Ads tag | 26% |
| Sites with the Meta pixel | 21% |
| Sites with WhatsApp link | 81% |
| Sites with structured data (schema) | 65% |
| Median mobile LCP (8 sites) | 7.05 s |
Three takeaways come out of this table.
The first is that reviews are not saturated yet. The median is 52.5 and only 17% have 100 or more. Reviews don’t guarantee a ranking, but if you ask for one after each system goes live, you reach the median of the top with less effort than in more competitive industries.
The second is that the Google Ads tag appears on 26% of the websites, more than on real estate agency websites (14%) and construction company websites (19%) in the same survey. Solar energy is an industry that advertises. If you enter the auction, you’ll find competitors.
The third is speed. On the 8 websites we measured in PageSpeed, the median mobile LCP was 7.05 seconds, and all of them were over 2.5 seconds. Google’s web.dev LCP guide calls loading in 2.5 seconds or less good.
Paid search for solar energy: how to filter out the curious
Paid search for solar energy works when the account pays for clicks from people who can buy. The rest is filtering, before and after the click.
Before the click:
- Start with intent searches, like “instalação de energia solar” (solar energy installation), “energia solar residencial” (residential solar energy) and the same ones with the city name. Leave “energia solar” alone for later, with a limited budget.
- Use phrase match and build negative keywords from day one. Out go “curso” (course), “como funciona” (how it works), “vaga” (job opening), “trabalhe” (work with us), “pdf”, “TCC” (thesis) and “o que é” (what is). Google explains the logic in negative keywords, and our starter list is in negative keywords in Google Ads.
- Target only the region where your crew installs. Installation requires a technical visit, and a lead 300 km away becomes a cost.
- Separate residential from commercial and rural, if you serve all three. The sale value and the decision time are different.
After the click, the page does the filtering. Ask for the average power bill and the property type before opening WhatsApp. Someone with a low bill rarely closes, and the question already organizes the salesperson’s queue. To measure who reached out, see Google Ads for WhatsApp.
How to sell solar energy after the lead arrives
Selling solar energy depends on fast replies and a clear proposal. A lead who asked for a quote usually asks more than one company on the same day.
What separates the company that closes from the one that only quotes, in order:
- A WhatsApp reply within the same hour, with a question about the power bill and the roof.
- A technical visit scheduled within a few days, while the customer is still comparing.
- A proposal with the estimated monthly savings, the payback period and the equipment warranty, in language the customer can pass on to their spouse.
- A follow-up that is agreed on and kept, because the decision usually involves financing and the family.
None of this is advertising, but it decides whether the ads pay off. With slow replies, a good campaign only warms up the customer for the competitor who answered first.
Google Maps and social proof
In solar energy marketing, Google Maps plays a different role than it does for a restaurant. Few people search “energia solar perto de mim” (solar energy near me) to go to a store. The customer uses the map to check that the company exists, has an address and what the reviews say.
That’s why photos matter. In 89% of the top profiles, the query returned 10 photos, the maximum it shows. A photo of a real installation, with the roof, the crew and the inverter, is worth more than a stock image.
The step by step is in how to optimize your Google Business Profile, and the right way to ask for reviews is in how to get Google reviews.
Measure all the way to installation
The solar sales cycle is long, spanning quote, visit, financing and installation. If Google Ads only knows about the WhatsApp click, automated bidding learns to bring in more people who click, not more people who install.
The way to fix it is to mark in your CRM who had a visit and who signed, and send that information back to Google. That way the campaign starts looking for profiles similar to those who bought. The step by step is in offline conversions in Google Ads.
What usually goes wrong
- A campaign with only “energia solar” on broad match, paying for students and curious people.
- An ad sending people to the homepage, with no simulator or question about the power bill.
- A lead answered the next day, when the customer has already booked a visit with another company.
- Conversions counted at the click, without knowing who installed.
Frequently asked questions
How do you do marketing for solar energy? Start with intent searches in Google Ads, like “instalação de energia solar” with the city, with negative keywords and a page that asks for the power bill amount. Take care of your Google Maps profile with photos of real installations and measure results all the way to installation.
Does paid search for solar energy work? It works when the account is narrow and filtered. The industry’s average top-of-page bid was R$5.37 in October 2026, and one sale pays for many clicks, as long as the account doesn’t spend on people who only search how it works.
How do you sell solar energy online? The ad and the website generate the contact, but the sale happens in the fast reply, the technical visit and a proposal with monthly savings, payback period and warranty, explained in simple language.
How much does a solar energy click cost in Google Ads? In our October 2026 survey, the search “energia solar” ranged from R$2.06 to R$8.74, and “instalação de energia solar” from R$2.71 to R$10.44.
Is it worth advertising only “energia solar”? As a first campaign, rarely. The search has 110,000 queries per month and mixes in many people who just want to understand the topic. It comes later, with a limited budget and a mature negative keyword list.
See where your solar company’s budget goes
The free Google Ads audit reads your account and shows how much went to curious people, to other regions and to searches with no buying intent. If you don’t advertise yet, it points to the searches and the region to start with.