Best Google Ads Keywords for Solar Companies (Plus Negative Keywords)

Last updated: 30 October 2026

Keyword choice decides who sees your solar ads. Pick the right ones and your budget reaches homeowners and businesses ready to request a quote. Pick the wrong ones and you pay for clicks from students, job seekers and people shopping for garden lights.

This article lists the best Google Ads keywords for solar companies, grouped by intent, plus the negative keywords that stop wasted spend. Use it alongside our complete guide to Google Ads for solar companies.

How to Think About Solar Keywords

Every solar search tells you something about where the person is in their buying journey:

• Ready to act: “solar installers near me”, “solar panel installation quote”. These usually bring the best leads.
• Comparing options: “best solar company in [city]”, “solar panels vs battery”. Good leads, but buyers may still be shopping around.
• Researching: “how do solar panels work”, “are solar panels worth it”. Useful for content and SEO, but usually poor value for paid clicks.

Spend most of your budget on the first group, test the second, and leave the third mostly to your blog and SEO.

1. High-Intent Installation Keywords

These should form the core of your Search campaigns:

• solar panel installation
• solar panel installers
• solar installation company
• rooftop solar installation
• home solar system installation
• solar panels for home
• solar power system for house
• solar installers near me

2. Local Keywords

Solar is a local service, and local searches often convert best. Combine your service with every city, suburb or region you cover:

• solar companies in [city]
• solar installers [city]
• solar panels [city]
• best solar company [region]
• solar near me

Pair these with location targeting so ads only show to people inside your service area, not just people who type your city name.

3. Quote and Comparison Keywords

Searchers using these words are close to a decision:

• solar quotes
• solar panel quote
• compare solar installers
• solar installation cost
• solar panel price for home
• best solar panels for home

Price-related searches can bring bargain hunters, so make sure your ads and landing pages explain the value you offer, not just the price.

4. Commercial and Industrial Solar Keywords

Business projects are larger and longer, so keep them in their own campaign with separate ads and pages:

• commercial solar installers
• commercial solar panels
• solar for business
• industrial solar power plant
• solar EPC company
• rooftop solar for factories
• solar for warehouses

5. Battery Storage Keywords

Battery demand has grown fast in several markets, and many homeowners now add storage to new or existing systems:

• solar battery installation
• home battery storage
• solar and battery system
• add battery to solar
• backup power for home solar

6. Brand Keywords

Always bid on your own company name. Brand clicks are often among the cheapest and highest-converting, and they stop competitors from appearing above you when people search for you directly. Keep brand keywords in a separate campaign so they don’t hide how your other campaigns perform.

Choosing Match Types

• Exact match shows your ad for searches with the same meaning as your keyword. Use it for your best-performing terms.
• Phrase match shows your ad for searches that include the meaning of your keyword, with extra words around it. A good default for most solar keywords.
• Broad match lets Google show your ad for related searches. It can find new leads, but only use it with smart bidding, solid conversion tracking and a strong negative keyword list.

From 1 September 2026, Google began upgrading campaigns that use campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets to AI Max for Search. If your campaigns were upgraded, check your search terms report every week.

Negative Keywords Every Solar Account Needs

Negative keywords stop your ads from showing for searches that never become customers. Start with these and adjust to your services:

Jobs and training

jobs, careers, hiring, salary, vacancy, internship, course, training, certification, technician

DIY and small products

DIY, kit, portable, camping, RV, caravan, boat, garden lights, solar lights, solar charger, power bank, calculator (if you don’t offer one)

Information only

how does, what is, wiki, PDF, project, essay, definition

Services you don’t offer

cleaning, repair, wholesale, used, second hand, manufacturer, distributor (unless these apply to your business)

Google’s negative keywords now cover misspellings automatically, so you don’t need to list every spelling. You can also apply shared negative keyword lists to Performance Max campaigns, which helps keep exclusions consistent across your account.

How to Find More Keywords

1. Search terms report: after a few weeks, review the actual searches that triggered your ads. Add good ones as keywords and bad ones as negatives.
2. Google Keyword Planner: enter your main services and location to see related searches and their relative demand.
3. Google’s autocomplete and “People also ask”: type your main terms into Google and note the suggestions.
4. Your sales calls: listen for the exact words customers use, such as specific panel brands, battery models or roof types.

Organise Keywords for Better Results

Group keywords into tightly themed ad groups, such as residential installation, local, commercial and battery. Each group should have its own ads and a matching landing page. This improves relevance, can improve Quality Score, and makes it easier to see which services bring the best leads.

Example Campaign Structure for a Solar Company

Here is a simple structure that works for most residential and commercial installers:

• Campaign 1, Brand: your company name and common misspellings.
• Campaign 2, Residential Solar: ad groups for installation, local, and quote keywords.
• Campaign 3, Battery Storage: battery and solar-plus-battery keywords, with a dedicated battery page.
• Campaign 4, Commercial Solar: business, industrial and EPC keywords, with a separate budget and longer sales follow-up.
• Campaign 5, Performance Max (optional): added once conversion tracking is reliable, sharing the same negative keyword list.

Separating campaigns like this lets you control budget by service, and quickly see which part of your business Google Ads grows best.

Keywords to Test Carefully

Some searches look promising but often disappoint. Test them in small, separate ad groups before scaling:

• “Free solar panels” and “government solar scheme”: often bring people looking for programs that don’t exist or don’t apply to them.
• “Cheap solar panels”: can attract buyers focused only on price.
• Panel or inverter brand names: useful if you install those brands, but some searchers want to buy the product only.
• “Solar panel calculator”: worth it only if your landing page actually offers a calculator.

Conclusion

The best Google Ads keywords for solar companies focus on installation, local and quote intent, with separate campaigns for commercial projects and battery storage. A strong negative keyword list matters just as much as the keywords themselves, especially as Google expands AI-driven matching. Review your search terms regularly, and your keyword list will get sharper every month.

Want us to build or audit your solar keyword strategy? See our solar lead generation services, or read how our campaigns generated 5,350 leads for a solar company.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Google Ads Help: updates to query matching and negative keywords
• Search Engine Roundtable: migration to AI Max from 1 September 2026
• Search Engine Roundtable: new Performance Max controls, including negative keyword lists