How to qualify a commercial solar enquiry

The difference between a commercial installer who wins and one who burns the week on dead ends is almost always qualification. A commercial enquiry is not a good opportunity just because it is big. A 2MW site with an absent landlord and no budget is worth less than a tidy 80kW rooftop owned by a business paying £15,000 a month with a board that has already said yes.

This is the checklist we would run every commercial and industrial enquiry through before it earns a site visit. It is also, not by accident, the information that makes the difference between a cheap name and a lead worth paying a commercial price for.

Why qualification matters more in commercial

Residential solar is a short, fairly standard sale. Commercial is long, and every enquiry can hide a deal-killer that only shows up three meetings in: a tenant with no landlord consent, a roof that needs replacing first, a "decision-maker" who cannot actually sign. Good qualification surfaces those killers on the first call, before they cost you a survey, a proposal and a fortnight. It also lets you spend your best time on the enquiries most likely to close.

The commercial qualification checklist

1. Consumption and spend

Start here, because it sizes the prize. Ask for annual consumption in kWh and the current monthly electricity bill. A business paying £2,000 a month and one paying £20,000 a month are completely different opportunities, and the second is where solar pays back fast. If they cannot give you a figure, getting the last few bills or the half-hourly data (via the MPAN) becomes your first job, not a reason to walk away, but you cannot size a system or a saving without it.

2. Ownership of the building or roof

This is the question that quietly kills more commercial deals than any other. A business that owns its premises can simply proceed. A tenant needs the landlord's consent, and a landlord who does not pay the energy bill often has no reason to agree. Establish ownership on the first call. If they lease, find out how many years are left and whether the landlord is reachable and motivated. A short lease with an absent landlord is usually a polite no.

3. The roof, or the land

Space, type, age and condition. A large flat roof in good order is ideal. An asbestos roof, or one that needs replacing within a couple of years, means you are quoting a re-roof before you quote solar. Ask what the roof is made of, roughly how large, and how old. For ground mount or car park canopies, ask about available land or parking area, and any obvious constraints like shading or ground use.

4. Timeframe and trigger

Why now, and by when? A lease event, a bill shock, a sustainability or net-zero target, or a board decision are real triggers. "Just having a look" is not. Ask what is prompting them to explore solar and when they want it operational. A genuine timeframe is what separates a buyer from a browser, and it tells you how hard to push.

5. Funding route

Commercial solar gets bought three ways, and which one they want reshapes the entire conversation:

• CAPEX: they buy the system outright and own it.
• PPA (power purchase agreement): a third party funds and owns the system and sells them the power, usually at a rate below the grid.
• Lease: they pay to use the system over a term.

A business set on a PPA and an installer who only does CAPEX are wasting each other's time. Establish the funding route early so you bring the right numbers, and the right partners, to the table.

6. The decision-maker

Are you talking to the person who signs, or a gatekeeper? Commercial deals eventually need the finance director, owner or estates lead in the room. Find out now who that is and whether you will get access to them. An enthusiastic contact with no authority is a common way to lose a month.

Turn it into a repeatable score

You do not need a complex model. Score every enquiry out of six, one point each for: clear consumption and spend, confirmed ownership or landlord consent, a suitable roof or site, a real timeframe, a known funding route, and access to the decision-maker. Enquiries that clear five or six get a survey. Threes and fours get nurtured with a specific next step. Ones and twos get parked. That single discipline is worth more than any lead source, and it makes your team's time predictable.

Red flags that signal a time-waster

• Cannot or will not share any consumption or bill information.
• Tenant with a short lease and a landlord they have never spoken to.
• No timeframe and no trigger, purely curious.
• Insists on a full proposal before answering any qualifying questions.
• The contact goes quiet the moment you ask to involve the decision-maker.

None of these is always fatal, but two or more together usually means park it and move on.

How Radiant leads come pre-qualified

Every commercial lead on Radiant's C&I Marketplace already carries the detail above: consumption and spend, ownership, roof or site, and timeframe. You are qualifying from real information rather than a name and a postcode, which is a large part of why an exclusive commercial lead is worth more than a cheap shared one. You still run your own checks, but you start most of the way there.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a commercial solar lead "qualified"? At minimum: known consumption and spend, confirmed ownership or landlord consent, a suitable roof or site, a genuine timeframe, a clear funding route, and access to the decision-maker.

What is the most common reason commercial solar deals fall through? Ownership. A tenant without landlord consent, or a landlord with no stake in the energy bill, kills more deals than any other single factor. Check it first.

Should I qualify a lead I have already paid for? Yes. Even a well-sourced lead needs your own checks before a survey. Buying a qualified lead shortens the work, it does not remove it.

Where to go next

• Know what a qualified lead is worth: what commercial solar leads cost
• Understand quality and exclusivity: exclusive vs shared solar leads
• Decide how you want opportunities delivered: solar appointments vs leads
• Compare the main UK providers: our comparison of UK solar lead companies

Or see pre-qualified exclusive commercial enquiries on the C&I Marketplace.