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Business Model · Construction

The Solar Installation Business

A residential install trade with a heavy sales engine, sold one system at a time. Here is how a solar installer actually pencils - the lead-gen and close funnel, commodity hardware costs, and why incentives and financing drive demand more than craftsmanship.

15 min experienceInteractive economicsBuilt from BLS & Census data
01

The Snapshot

Is this worth your attention?

$1M-$5M
Typical annual revenue
2-4 crews · residential PV at scale
10-22%
Owner cash margin
after hardware, labor & acquisition
~$23/hr
Median installer wage
$48,800/yr (2024)
$50k-$150k
Cost to start
crew, truck, tools, marketing
Medium
Day-to-day difficulty
sales, permitting, crews, interconnect
Low-Med
Absentee potential
systemized with a GM & sales lead

A fit if you...

  • Can build and run a lead-gen and sales funnel, not just install
  • Hold or can hire electrical and roofing licensing
  • Are comfortable in a fast-moving, policy-driven market
  • Can manage permitting, interconnection, and inspections

Probably not if you...

  • Want a passive, absentee investment from day one
  • Dislike running a high-spend customer-acquisition machine
  • Cannot recruit or retain licensed electricians and roofers
  • Have no appetite for policy and incentive risk
02

Step Inside the Layout

A live look at one tool inside

This is the actual 3D floor from the full model - drag to explore it. Inside, you configure the space yourself and watch the economics move with every choice.

Loading configurator…

This is just the surface

The full model is the complete, interactive deep-dive, and every business here is built to the same standard: a live economics simulator you tune to your own numbers, an interactive 3D walkthrough, a location scorecard, an owner-fit assessment, buy-versus-build guidance, and the full breakdown of how it makes money and what quietly kills margin.