How to find solar leads in Wilmington from building permits — free
Wilmington & New Hanover County filed 77 solar permits in the last 12 months — about 1.5 a week, 12 in the last 30 days. Every one is a public record naming the address, the work and, usually, who's doing it. Here's how solar installers find them for free, which ones are worth a call, and when it's worth paying not to.
The busiest ZIP code was 28409, with 26% of them, and the most active name on them was Cape Fear Solar Systems LLC, with 31.
- Last 12 months
- 77
- A week, on average
- 1.5
- Last 30 days
- 12
- Busiest month
- 17
- August 2026
Step 1: Search New Hanover County's COAST portal (free)
The permit office's own records, straight from the source. Search for: electrical (solar is filed as electrical work).
- Open the portal and choose Search (no account needed to look).
- Set the search to Permit, then filter by permit type (residential or commercial building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing) and an applied or issued date range.
- Page through the results; each permit opens to its address, work description and status.
Who's on a permit: A permit's page lists its contacts on some permits, not all.
Step 2: Keep the permits worth a call
Does the work need a permit in North Carolina? Yes. Every install adds electrical equipment, so it needs at least an electrical permit. So these are the solar permits on file, and what each is worth.
Who's installing where
A solar permit means the sale already happened, so it's market intelligence more than a lead: which installers win which ZIP codes, and how many systems go up a month.
New homes
Builders offering solar or solar-ready wiring choose an installer per community. The new-home permits show which builders are building where.
Commercial roofs
Commercial building and re-roof permits mark large flat roofs — the best sites for commercial solar.
Step 4: Know who's pulling them
The installers on this list are your competition; the builders filing new-home permits are partners worth a call. Ranked by permits in the last 12 months.
| Contractor | Last 12 months | Last 90 days |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Fear Solar Systems LLC | 31 | 23 |
| Lifetime Energy LLC | 7 | 3 |
| NC Solar Now, Inc. | 5 | 3 |
| 8MSolar | 4 | 2 |
| Complete Solar, Inc. | 4 | 4 |
| Pamlico Solar LLC | 3 | 1 |
| Nexus Energy Systems LLC | 2 | 0 |
| Southern Energy Management, Inc | 2 | 1 |
| J & C Energy Enterprises LLC Aka Energy Solutions Direct (Gc) | 1 | 0 |
| Empwr Solar LLP T/A Empwr LLP | 1 | 1 |
| Top Tier Solar Solution LLC | 1 | 0 |
| Complex Solutions LLC | 1 | 0 |
Step 5: Reach out at the right time
Call builders when a community's first permits are filed, before they've picked an installer for it.
The free way, and the fast way
The permits are free either way. What costs time is finding them, one office and one search at a time.
| The office's portal | TarSignal Free | TarSignal Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | One permit office's site at a time | 23 North Carolina offices, one search | 23 offices, one search |
| How recent | Same day, if you search every day | Permits over 30 days old | Up to today |
| Who's doing the work | Depends on the office; phone numbers rarely | Contractor and contact, on permits over 30 days old | Contractor and contact on every permit |
| New permits sent to you | No | Weekly, one ZIP code | Daily, every area |
| Export | Rarely | No | CSV |
| Cost | Free | Free | $199/month |
Solar Leads in Wilmington: common questions
- How do I find solar leads in Wilmington for free?
- From the building permits. New Hanover County's COAST portal is free to search: Open the portal and choose Search (no account needed to look). TarSignal's free search has the same permits from 23 North Carolina offices in one place, with the contractor where the record names one, for permits more than 30 days old.
- How many solar permits are filed in Wilmington?
- 77 in the last 12 months, about 1.5 a week, and 12 in the last 30 days. The busiest ZIP codes were 28409, 28405 and 28412.
- Are building permits public record in North Carolina?
- Yes. Permits are public records under the North Carolina Public Records Act (G.S. Chapter 132), so anyone can look them up, and the contractor named on a permit is part of the record.
- Does solar work need a permit in Wilmington?
- Yes. Every install adds electrical equipment, so it needs at least an electrical permit. That's state law (G.S. 160D-1110), so it's the same at any permit office in the state.
Related
The numbers behind this guide, with recent permits: Solar permits in Wilmington & New Hanover County. Every permit in the area: building permits in Wilmington & New Hanover County.
Solar Leads in other places
See this week's solar leads
Permit Search has every solar permit filed in Wilmington & New Hanover County, with the contractor where the record names one. Free for permits over 30 days old; Pro has them the day they're filed.
Source: TarSignal, from North Carolina public building permit records, data through October 28, 2026. Refreshed nightly. Counts include every permit type a jurisdiction files — trade permits (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) as well as building permits — so one project can appear more than once. Values are what the applicant declared, where the jurisdiction records one. We keep improving how we collect each office's permits, so a count that steps up suddenly usually means more complete records, not more construction.