Solar Lead Lists That Actually Help: More Projects For your solar company
In today’s blog, we’re talking straight to the solar, storage, and microgrid world:
Commercial & industrial (C&I) solar developers
EPCs and integrators
Community solar and nonprofit-led projects
Teams building solar-plus-storage and microgrid solutions
If you’ve been in this space for a minute, you already know the feeling:
There are more rooftops, incentives, and solar energy solutions than ever…
but actually finding the right building owners, facility managers, and community partners still feels like guessing.
That’s where a solar lead list comes in.
Not a sketchy “10,000 emails for $97” spreadsheet.
A real, curated map of the people and places where commercial solar, community solar, and microgrids actually make sense.
When it’s done right, it doesn’t just grow your pipeline.
It helps you build projects that lower bills, add resilience, and respect the community.
Let’s break it down.
Solar is booming… but the signal is messy
The big picture is clear: solar isn’t slowing down.
C&I and utility-scale projects keep growing.
Residential and community solar programs are expanding into more states.
Solar-plus-storage and microgrid solutions are becoming the default conversation in resilience and backup power.
Great for the planet. Great for the industry.
The messy part:
Inboxes are packed with generic “go solar and save!” messages.
A lot of folks (especially in low-income or renter-heavy communities) are tired of being sold to but still aren’t getting real, understandable options.
Developers and EPCs are still throwing darts: cold outreach to random lists, hoping the next one is “the big project.”
A better solar lead list helps clean up that noise.
Instead of, “Who can we blast this week?”
You’re asking, “Where does solar, storage, or a microgrid actually make sense—and who should we talk to there?”
What is a solar lead list (when it’s done right)?
Let’s keep it simple:
A good solar lead list is a clean list of buildings, organizations, and decision-makers where solar, storage, or microgrids have a real shot at working.
Not just names and emails scraped from the internet.
For C&I and community-focused solar, a real lead list should include:
1. Buildings & organizations
Company / organization name
Website
Location (city, state, utility territory)
Building type:
Warehouse, manufacturing plant, distribution center
School, university, church, community center
Municipal building, fire station, city hall
Multifamily / affordable housing (for community solar)
2. Project context (as much as you can get)
Rough load band (small / medium / large C&I)
Rooftop vs carport potential
Whether they look like a fit for:
Commercial solar installation
Solar-plus-storage
Community solar programs
Microgrid solutions for resilience
You won’t have all of this on day one, but the more context you add over time, the smarter your outreach gets.
3. Real people
Facility manager / building engineer
Operations or plant manager
Sustainability / energy manager
Executive director (for nonprofits)
City or county decision-makers (for public sector)
Now your team isn’t just “doing solar marketing.”
You’re reaching out to specific humans, in specific buildings, with specific needs.
Community-first vs “sell-at-all-costs” solar
We have to be honest: some solar markets have been hurt by aggressive tactics.
Overpromised savings, under-explained risk
Confusing contracts
Targeting vulnerable communities with pressure instead of clarity
At the same time, we’ve seen community solar and low-income solar create real wins:
Renters and income-eligible households getting bill relief
Community centers, churches, and schools stabilizing energy costs
Neighborhoods building microgrids and solar-plus-storage projects for resilience
A better solar lead list won’t magically fix all of that.
But it does help you choose how you show up.
With the right data, you can:
Skip obvious bad fits (wrong building type, tiny load, no decision authority).
Prioritize schools, clinics, community centers, and affordable housing where savings genuinely matter.
Lead with clear, educational outreach instead of pressure.
You’re still running a business.
You still need deals.
But you’re not treating people like numbers in an outreach campaign—you’re treating them like neighbors.
How to turn your solar lead list into real conversations
Here’s a simple playbook you can actually use.
Step 1: Segment your list like you mean it
Don’t treat everyone the same. Different segments = different conversations.
By organization type
C&I: manufacturers, warehouses, large retail, data centers
Education: schools, colleges, universities
Nonprofits: churches, community centers, service orgs
Public sector: city halls, fire stations, libraries
Multifamily / affordable housing: great for community solar conversations
By solution
Commercial solar power only
Solar-plus-storage to manage outages or demand charges
Community solar programs for renters and low-income communities
Full microgrid solutions for critical facilities
Even a few tags like “C&I,” “community solar,” or “microgrid” go a long way. Your reps will know who they’re talking to and why.
Step 2: Match your message to their world
Once your list is segmented, you shift from “spray and pray” to “right message, right people.”
For C&I / commercial solar
Focus on operating costs, demand charges, and resilience.
Example angle:
“We help warehouses and manufacturers cut energy costs and reduce downtime with commercial solar installation and solar-plus-storage. Here’s what that looked like for similar facilities in your region.”
For schools and nonprofits
Focus on budgets, stability, and mission.
Example:
“We work with schools and community centers to stabilize energy bills so more of your budget stays in classrooms and programs—not the utility.”
For community solar & affordable housing
Focus on access, fairness, and simple math.
Example:
“Community solar programs can lower electric bills for renters and income-eligible households without anyone installing panels. Our job is to make the savings and terms easy to understand.”
For microgrids & critical facilities
Focus on resilience and safety.
Example:
“We design microgrid solutions with solar and storage so when the grid goes down, your essential operations stay up—lights, medical equipment, refrigeration, communications.”
Same company.
Totally different conversations.
All powered by how well your lead list is segmented.
Step 3: Use offers that respect people’s time
We don’t need more “Book a call now!” buttons.
We need offers that feel useful, not pushy. For example:
Bill + load profile review
“Send us 12 months of bills and we’ll tell you where commercial solar, solar-plus-storage, or community solar could make sense—and where it doesn’t.”Resilience check for critical facilities
“We’ll walk your team through how a microgrid or solar-plus-storage could keep essential functions operating during outages.”Educational sessions
For school boards, city councils, tenant associations, nonprofit boards
Focused on “here are your options,” not “sign here before Friday.”
Those types of offers still move projects forward.
They just do it in a way that builds trust instead of fear.
Where SEO and solar lead lists work together
Your lead list tells you who you serve.
Your keywords tell you how they search.
When people go to Google, they don’t type “I’m a perfect lead please call me.” They type things like:
“commercial solar installation near me”
“solar panels for businesses”
“community solar programs in [state]”
“microgrid solutions for critical facilities”
So once you know your segments, you can start pairing them with search terms:
C&I / commercial solar
commercial solar installation
solar energy solutions for warehouses and factories
solar-plus-storage for commercial buildings
Community solar
community solar programs near me
low-income community solar
solar energy for community centers and affordable housing
Microgrids & resilience
microgrid solutions for commercial buildings
solar microgrid for community resilience
solar-plus-storage microgrid design
Then you create simple, clear landing pages and blogs around those combos:
“Commercial Solar & Storage for Manufacturers in [Region]”
“Community Solar Options for Nonprofits and Affordable Housing in [State]”
“Solar Microgrid Solutions for Critical Facilities and Community Centers”
Now your outbound is focused and your inbound content speaks the same language.
Where Matthews Digital & Take Lead fit into all this
All of this is easier when you’re not trying to build everything from scratch.
That’s where Matthews Digital and Take Lead comes in.
We focus on:
Building clean, impact-minded solar lead lists for:
Commercial solar projects
C&I solar and storage
Community solar programs
Microgrid and resilience-focused work
Structuring the data so you can:
Filter by region, building type, and org type
Separate C&I from community and public sector
Drop it straight into your CRM, outreach tool, or ad platform without a formatting nightmare
And with Take Lead, those lists stop being static spreadsheets and start becoming a living part of your pipeline:
Simple, high-converting forms and landing pages that capture inbound leads
Lead flows that connect inbound interest to the same “universe” you’re targeting outbound
Audiences you can use for ads and retargeting without juggling five different tools
We care about growth.
We also care about how that growth happens.
Wrap-up: More projects, less guessing, more care
If you’re in solar, storage, or microgrids right now, you’re in a powerful position.
You can:
Help businesses lower costs and add resilience
Help communities access fair, clean energy
Help families see real savings on their bills
A good solar lead list is just a tool.
But in the right hands, it helps you:
Find the right buildings and communities, not just whoever shows up in a scraper.
Match your message to the real needs of C&I, nonprofits, tenants, and public sector.
Use SEO and content in a way that helps people find clear, honest information when they go looking.
Build a pipeline that feels less like a roller coaster and more like a steady, aligned flow of projects.
You don’t have to choose between growth and integrity.
With the right solar lead lists, a community-first mindset, and tools like Take Lead backing you up, you can build a business that does both—good work and good numbers at the same time.
