The Answer
Solar appointment setting costs $12 to $18 per hour for nearshore agents in 2026, or $25 to $75 per qualified appointment depending on lead source and ICP. Per-sit pricing typically runs 1.5 to 2.5 times the per-set rate.
Solar economics have tightened. NEM 3.0 reset California unit economics in April 2023. Texas runs on the deregulated ERCOT grid with no statewide net metering. Florida and Arizona evolved their net-metering postures. Every appointment matters more, which means cost per set and cost per sit get more attention than they used to. The numbers below reflect what a US installer can reasonably expect from a fully loaded nearshore solar appointment setting contract in 2026.
The full national service framing is on our solar appointment setting outsourcing page. State-specific framing is on our California solar and Texas solar pages.
1. Per-Hour Rates
Nearshore solar appointment setting runs $12 to $18 per hour fully loaded in 2026. That includes wages, employer taxes, supervision, dialer, QA, recording, and TCPA plus state DNC scrubbing. There are no separate line items for these.
| Setup | Hourly Range (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nearshore English (CFG) | $12 to $15 | Caribbean ops, EST/AST, native English |
| Nearshore Bilingual EN/ES (CFG) | $14 to $18 | Colombia ops, EST-aligned, native or near-native Spanish |
| Onshore US | $25 to $38 | Higher attrition, narrower bilingual pool |
2. Per-Qualified-Set Pricing
Most installers think in unit economics. Per-set pricing ties cost directly to a calendar event the installer can act on. Solar per-set rates in 2026 land at $25 to $75 per qualified appointment depending on lead source quality, qualification depth, and ICP tightness.
| Lead Profile | Per-Set Range (USD) | What Drives It |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh, opted-in, in-market | $25 to $40 | High contact rate, high qualification rate, low dials per set |
| Aged or warm web leads | $35 to $55 | Moderate contact rate, more dials per set, intent decay |
| Tightened ICP under NEM 3.0 | $45 to $75 | Narrower qualification, higher per-set cost, much better close rate |
| Marketplace shared transfer | $50 to $100 | Same lead sold to 4+ installers, no consent provenance, no exclusivity |
3. Per-Sit Pricing
Cost per sit runs 1.5 to 2.5 times cost per set because not every set sits. Healthy solar programs see set-to-sit rates of 60 to 75 percent. A $40 per-set program lands at roughly $55 to $65 per sit. A $60 per-set program lands at roughly $80 to $100 per sit.
Cost per sit matters more than cost per set. The installer's close-rate math runs off sits, not sets. A vendor optimizing for raw set count without confirmation cadence, reminder logic, or no-show recovery can show low cost per set while delivering bad cost per sit. Always evaluate solar appointment setting vendors on cost per sit, not cost per set.
| Per-Set Cost | Set-to-Sit Rate | Effective Per-Sit |
|---|---|---|
| $30 | 70% | ~$43 |
| $50 | 65% | ~$77 |
| $70 | 60% | ~$117 |
4. What Is and Is Not Included
The $12 to $18 per hour fully loaded CFG rate includes everything needed to run a TCPA-defensible solar program. The list to confirm with any solar appointment setting vendor:
- Agent labor with employer taxes and statutory benefits. Not just the wage.
- Supervision and QA. Team lead, QA scoring, weekly calibration.
- Dialer. Predictive or progressive, with state-by-state time-of-day enforcement.
- Recording and retention. 100 percent recording with retention through the audit window.
- TCPA scrubbing. Federal DNC plus state DNC at the time of dial. Reassigned-number scrub where appropriate.
- Account management. Weekly reporting on contact rate, qualification rate, set rate, sit rate, cost per set, cost per sit.
If a vendor quotes $9 per hour and adds dialer fees, scrubbing fees, recording fees, and supervisor fees on top, the loaded rate often lands inside the same $12 to $18 nearshore band. For deeper coverage of how hidden line items reshape solar appointment setting math, see our cost of nearshore outsourcing answer page.
5. The Cost Per Installed System Lens
The truest unit economic for a solar installer is cost per installed system. Walk it back from the close rate.
- Cost per set: say $40.
- Set-to-sit: 70 percent. Cost per sit ~$57.
- Sit-to-close: 25 percent (typical for tight ICP under NEM 3.0). Cost per installed system ~$229.
That number compares against the all-in customer acquisition target the installer carries on each sale. For a residential PV install with BESS attach, $229 per system on the appointment-setting line is healthy. Marketplace shared transfers at $50 to $100 each with sit and close rates half as good can land at $400 to $700 per installed system on the same line. That spread is why dedicated nearshore appointment setting has become the default for installers running tight unit economics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is per-set pricing usually quoted alongside per-hour?
Solar installers think in unit economics. Per-hour pricing is what the BPO charges. Per-set pricing is what the installer cares about because it ties cost directly to a calendar event. Per-set rates land at $25 to $75 in 2026 nearshore depending on lead source quality, qualification depth, and ICP tightness. The per-set number is derived from the per-hour rate plus the achieved set rate, so a tighter qualification stack lowers cost per set even if the per-hour rate stays flat. Most CFG solar contracts run hourly with a per-set floor SLA, which gives the installer cost predictability while preserving the ability to tighten the qualification stack when sit-to-close data justifies it.
How does cost per sit compare to cost per set?
Cost per sit runs 1.5 to 2.5 times cost per set because not every set sits. Healthy solar programs see set-to-sit rates of 60 to 75 percent, so a $40 per-set program lands at roughly $55 to $65 per sit. The reason cost per sit matters more than cost per set: the installer's close-rate math runs off sits, not sets. A vendor optimizing for raw set count without confirmation, reminder cadence, or no-show recovery can show low cost per set while delivering bad cost per sit. Always evaluate solar appointment setting vendors on cost per sit, not cost per set.
How does this compare to marketplace shared solar leads?
Marketplace shared solar transfers run $50 to $100 each in 2026. The headline number can look comparable to per-set nearshore pricing, but the underlying economics are different. Marketplace transfers ship without consent provenance, the same contact is sold to multiple installers, and exclusivity is zero. Dedicated nearshore live transfer at $25 to $75 per qualified set delivers exclusive ownership of the lead, documented TCPA consent, and a feedback loop from installer CRM data back into the qualification stack. Installers running tighter solar economics tend to consolidate into dedicated programs because every appointment has to convert harder.
What drives the spread between $25 and $75 per qualified set?
Three drivers. First, lead source quality: aged or low-intent lists need more dials per qualified set, so the per-set cost lands higher. Fresh, opted-in, in-market leads come in at the low end. Second, qualification depth: a strict gate (verified bill, ownership, roof, decision-maker, motivation) drops set rates and pushes per-set cost up, but it also dramatically improves close rate and is usually the right trade. Third, ICP tightness: under tightened solar economics like NEM 3.0 in California, narrower ICP requirements raise per-set cost and lower per-installed-system cost.
Are TCPA scrubbing and recording included in the per-hour rate?
Yes for CFG. The $12 to $18 per hour fully loaded rate includes wages, employer taxes, supervision, dialer, QA, recording retention, and TCPA plus state DNC scrubbing. There are no separate line items for these. Some solar appointment setting vendors quote a low headline rate and add scrubbing fees, recording fees, and dialer fees on top. When you total those, the loaded rate often lands inside the same $12 to $18 nearshore band. For the broader cost framing on hidden fees and full-loaded nearshore rates, see our cost of nearshore outsourcing answer page.
Solar appointment setting at $12-18/hr
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Dedicated nearshore solar appointment setting at $12-18/hr in 2026. TCPA-defensible, federal plus state DNC, recorded consent, transparent set/sit/close KPIs. Visit the contact page to get started.