Every solar account we audit in Australia eventually arrives at the same argument inside the marketing meeting: are we spending too much on Google, or not enough on Meta (specifically Facebook and IG)? Both sides are usually wrong, and the disagreement signals that nobody has run the maths.
For Australian solar installers in 2026, Google Ads delivers higher-intent leads at higher CPL, and Meta delivers more leads at lower CPL but lower intent. The right mix is not 50/50 or 70/30 by default. It is dictated by your sales team’s lead handling capacity, your average system value, and how strong your retargeting is.
Most installers underspend on the platform that matches their actual constraint.
The split between platforms also moved in 2025. Meta’s iOS 14 attribution gap narrowed materially after the rollout of Conversions API for solar advertisers, while Google rolled out Enhanced Conversions for Leads, which closed half the offline conversion blind spot. Both platforms became more measurable, which changes the comparison.
Which platform delivers cheaper solar leads in Australia?
Meta delivers cheaper raw CPL for solar in Australia, typically $45 to $110 per lead in 2026. Google Search runs $90 to $240. But CPL alone is the wrong way to compare them, and using it has cost more than one Australian installer their growth trajectory.
Meta wins on cost because it manufactures demand. The user is scrolling, sees a battery cost calculator, taps it, and submits a form. Google Search captures existing demand. The user already typed “solar Brisbane installation cost” into the bar.
The Google click is more expensive because the buyer is closer to a transaction. SolarQuotes data on installer feedback shows Google search leads close at roughly 2.5 to 3x the rate of Meta leads.
The right comparison is cost per booked consultation or, even better, cost per closed sale. On those metrics, Google often beats Meta despite the higher CPL because the lead is qualified before it arrives. We dug into the campaign architecture in our deep dive on Google Ads for Australian solar.
Where does Google Ads still win for solar?
Google wins three categories: high-intent transactional terms, brand defence, and bottom-of-funnel local search. None of these are replaceable by Meta no matter how good the creative is.
Transactional terms include “solar installer near me”, “10kW solar quote”, and “battery storage Sydney”. A buyer typing those phrases is in the consideration set. According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, 81% of Australians use search engines as a primary research channel before service-based purchases, and that figure is higher for considered purchases like solar. If you are not in those auctions, your competitor is taking the lead while it is still warm.
Brand defence matters more than installers expect. Once your Meta campaigns drive recall, prospects search your name on Google. If a competitor is bidding on your branded terms, you are paying Meta to deliver leads to someone else. Brand campaigns on Google sit at $1 to $3 CPC and produce some of the highest closing leads in the entire account.
Local pack and Google Business Profile traffic also funnel through Google. If you are not optimised for “solar installer Geelong” or “solar quotes Newcastle”, you are missing the cheapest qualified traffic on the internet, which we cover inside our SEO services.
Where does Meta beat Google for solar?
Meta beats Google on three things: filling top-of-funnel demand at scale, building battery and finance education at low CPM, and retargeting prospects who are not yet ready to buy.
Top of funnel is where Meta earns its keep. Google’s transactional search volume in any single Australian metro is finite. Once you saturate it, your only growth lever is expanding into research-stage queries with weaker intent, where Meta is cheaper per impression by a factor of 5 to 10. Clean Energy Council consumer research shows that battery education is the single biggest pre-purchase friction in 2026, and Meta video is the most efficient channel to address it.
Retargeting is the second area where Meta dominates. A Google Search prospect who fills out a form and ghosts is still scrolling Instagram. A 14-day retargeting window with three well-built creatives often recovers 8% to 15% of leads who never came back to your site. We have written about the retargeting flywheel in our solar Meta ads playbook.
What we have seen: on a Queensland installer running $35k a month, we ran a 60/40 Meta/Google split for the first quarter, then deliberately rebalanced to 40/60 Meta/Google after measuring close rate by source. Booked consultations dropped slightly. Closed jobs rose 28%. The lesson is that platform mix should be tuned to the metric closest to revenue, not the metric closest to clicks.
What is the right mix for an Australian solar installer in 2026?
Start with 60% Google and 40% Meta if you are below $30k a month in ad spend. Move to 50/50 between $30k and $80k. Above $80k, the mix usually settles at 40% Google, 50% Meta, and 10% YouTube and Performance Max. These are starting points, not endpoints.
The ratio you actually run should be determined by where your marginal dollar produces the cheapest closed sale. That number is only knowable if your tracking is sound. If you are guessing, you are paying both platforms tax on your indecision. We outline the tracking setup that makes this measurable in our analytics setup work.
Adjust the mix seasonally. Australian solar demand peaks September through March. Google Search volume rises 30% to 50% in those months while Meta CPMs stay flatter. During peak, lean into Google. In the colder months, lean into Meta to keep the pipeline full.
Frequently asked questions
Should I run Performance Max campaigns for solar in Australia?
Only after you have at least 30 conversions a week from a structured Search campaign and your Enhanced Conversions for Leads are firing. Performance Max needs clean training data, otherwise it pulls in low-quality clicks from display and shopping inventory.
How much budget do I need to test Meta solar properly?
$8,000 to $12,000 across six to eight weeks. Below that, you cannot run enough creative variations to find the winning combinations.
Is YouTube worth running for solar in 2026?
Yes for installers above $80k a month. YouTube CPMs in Australia are competitive and the platform delivers excellent retargeting and brand lift, but it is wasted spend until your search and Meta accounts are mature.
Why does my Google Ads CPL look higher than Meta but my close rate is lower?
Almost always a tracking issue. Either your Google conversions are firing on form submissions while Meta is firing on a stricter qualified event, or your sales team is logging Google calls under “unknown source”. Audit the attribution before reacting.
Can I run only Meta and skip Google for solar?
You can, but you will hit a growth ceiling at around $25k a month. Without Google, you are not capturing existing demand, and you are surrendering brand defence to competitors.
The takeaway
Google and Meta are not substitutes. They are complementary channels that operate at different points in the buyer journey. The installers winning in 2026 run both, measure both honestly, and rebalance based on closed sales rather than clicks. If you want a structured platform audit before you set the next quarter’s split, our solar marketing team can walk you through it.
