Google Ads for solar companies: bid on the homeowner's question, drop the expired tax credit from every ad, and import the signed contract

Google Ads for solar companies works when the campaigns follow the homeowner's real questions (installation quotes, battery storage, panel repair, and solar for a specific town) rather than the bare word "solar", when every ad and landing page is current on incentives, and when the account learns from signed contracts instead of form fills. In the United States that last point on incentives matters now: the IRS says the federal Residential Clean Energy Credit "is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025", so any ad still offering homeowners a 30% federal credit is wrong. Run Google's Local Services Ads beside search, since "Solar energy contractor" is a listed US category.

Why solar search ads need care

• Most "solar" searches are not buyers. They are students, people pricing panels for a shed, job seekers, investors and people checking how solar works.
• The sale is long and high value. A homeowner may click in spring, take a site survey in summer and sign weeks later.
• Many clicks are from people who cannot buy. Renters, shaded roofs and homes outside your service area all look like leads in a form.
• Claims are regulated. Savings, finance and environmental language each have rules, covered below.

The campaigns worth running

Campaign	Example searches	Where the click lands
Your own name	company name, name plus reviews	Home page with a quote form
Residential installation	solar panel installation [town], solar installers near me, solar quote	A page for that area with local installs
Batteries and storage	home battery backup, solar battery installer	A battery page
Service and repair	solar panel repair, solar panel cleaning, inverter replacement	A service page, often for systems you did not install
Commercial	commercial solar installer, solar for farms	A commercial page with past projects

Service and repair is a campaign many installers skip. Owners of older systems whose installer has closed search for help, and that work can lead to battery and expansion sales.

Negative keywords for solar

Add these from the start: "jobs", "salary", "careers", "training", "certification", "DIY", "kit", "how does", "how to", "for shed", "RV", "camping", "portable", "stock", "ETF", "companies to invest in", "free solar panels" and "government free". Then read the search terms report weekly.

Local Services Ads beside search

Google's Local Services Ads getting started page for the United States (answer 6224841, read 21 October 2026) lists "Solar energy contractor" as an eligible category, and says advertisers "pay only for leads related to your business and the services you offer". The leads come from your own Google-verified profile, so they belong to you, not to a lead seller. Run Local Services Ads for the homeowner who wants to call, and search campaigns for control over the message and the landing page.

Location settings

Draw the target around the area your crews and permits cover, town by town. Solar often depends on local utility rules, so a page per utility area or town lets you say something true and specific. Use the "Presence" option if you only want people who live or are in your area, which avoids clicks from people researching somewhere else.

The claims in your ads

The federal tax credit

The IRS Residential Clean Energy Credit page (read 21 October 2026) says the credit equals 30% of the cost of qualified clean energy property "installed anytime from 2022 through December 31, 2025" and "is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025". Audit every headline, description, sitelink, image and landing page for "30% tax credit" and "federal incentive" lines. Talk instead about incentives that still apply in your area, with a date beside any figure.

Monthly payments and finance

"Go solar for $X a month" is a credit advertisement. Under Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.24(d) (read on eCFR, 21 October 2026), stating the amount of any payment, the number of payments, the down payment or the finance charge is a triggering term. Once one appears, the ad must also state the down payment, the terms of repayment and the annual percentage rate, using that term. Ad text is short, so it is simpler to keep payment figures on the landing page, where the full terms fit. Google's personalised advertising rules (answer 16701855) also say consumer finance ads in the United States and Canada cannot be targeted by age, gender, marital or parental status, or by ZIP code.

Green claims

The FTC's Green Guides apply to ads. 16 CFR 260.4 says marketers should not make unqualified general environmental benefit claims such as "eco-friendly", because they are hard to prove in every sense a reader may take them. 16 CFR 260.15 says a company that sells the renewable energy certificates for the power it generates should not claim it uses renewable energy. Specific claims, such as a system's estimated yearly production for a named home, are easier to support.

Savings

Savings depend on the roof, the usage, the utility tariff and the finance terms. Put "estimated" next to any figure, show how it was worked out on the landing page, and never imply a bill of zero unless that is true for the customer in the example.

The landing page and the lead

Ask the questions that decide whether you can quote, early and kindly: own or rent, roof type and age, rough monthly bill, address. A homeowner who answers them is far more likely to take a survey. Google lets you add a lead form to the ad itself; its help page says leads are stored for 60 days and the CSV download covers only the last 30, so connect the form to your CRM. Call quickly, and get the right consent before any automated calls or texts. Our page on solar lead generation companies covers the consent rules and how bought leads compare with your own.

Measure the signed contract

Track forms and calls as early steps, then the site survey and the signed contract, and import those back to Google Ads with offline conversion import or enhanced conversions for leads. Set the conversion window to fit your sales cycle: Google allows 1 to 90 days, with 30 as the default for Search. Judge each campaign by cost per signed contract, never cost per lead.

Paid search stops when the budget stops. The organic half keeps working, and our page on SEO for solar companies covers the location and incentive pages that do it.

Questions about Google Ads for solar companies

Are Google Ads worth it for a solar installer?

For tight campaigns on installation, battery and repair searches inside your service area, judged by signed contracts, they often are. Broad "solar" campaigns rarely pay.

Can solar companies use Google Local Services Ads?

Yes, in the United States. "Solar energy contractor" is on Google's list of eligible categories, and you pay per lead after passing Google's screening.

Can solar ads still mention the 30% federal tax credit?

Not as something a homeowner can claim for a new system. The IRS says the residential credit is not available for property placed in service after 31 December 2025.

Can a solar ad show a monthly payment?

Yes, but a payment amount is a triggering term under Regulation Z, so the ad must then also state the down payment, repayment terms and APR. Keeping the figure on the landing page, beside the full terms, is simpler.

What should a solar campaign count as a conversion?

The signed contract, with the site survey as an earlier step, imported back into Google Ads so bidding learns from real sales.

The installer an assistant names

Homeowners now ask ChatGPT or Gemini "which solar installers near me are reliable, and is solar still worth it without the tax credit". The answer names a few companies and explains its reasons, drawing on reviews, licence records and installers' own pages. An installer can see whether it appears in that answer, and what is said about it, with tools in a new category built for the purpose, such as AI Knows Us.