Answer: Choose solar design software by the project deliverables your team needs: a customer proposal, roof or ground layout, traceable energy study, material list or editable engineering handoff. SurgePV, Aurora Solar, HelioScope, OpenSolar and PVcase cover different workflows. Start with the project type, verify the available plan and test the required outputs with their intended recipients.
Publisher and method: SurgePV publishes this guide and sells one of the products discussed. Vendor descriptions were checked on 30 September 2026. These are documented capabilities, not results from a controlled head-to-head trial. The five tools retain the existing shortlist; their order does not represent a performance ranking. Prices and features require confirmation in the current offer.
Start with the next person’s deliverable
A sales representative, electrical designer, procurement lead and independent reviewer may need different outputs from the same project. Name those outputs before counting features. A roof rendering helps explain a layout; it does not establish structural suitability. A material export helps purchasing; it does not establish that every quantity, attachment and electrical component has been approved.
| Required work | Inputs to prepare | Output to inspect | Receiving role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary roof or ground layout | Geometry source, obstructions, equipment and constraints | Dimensions, arrangement, orientation and unresolved site questions | Designer and site surveyor |
| Energy estimate | Weather source, model, equipment, shading and losses | Units, simulation settings, loss breakdown and reproducible assumptions | Energy analyst or project reviewer |
| Customer proposal | Reviewed design version, costs, tariffs and finance assumptions | Scope, exclusions, generation basis and conditional savings | Sales lead and customer |
| Electrical handoff | Equipment ratings, configuration and connection conditions | Diagram, calculations, editable format and review state | Responsible electrical designer |
| Materials and purchasing | Current layout and equipment selection | Quantities, identifiers, included scope and missing items | Procurement and installation leads |
| Utility-scale coordination | Survey, terrain, civil constraints and collection design | CAD exchange, revision identifiers and unresolved interfaces | Civil and electrical engineering teams |
Use the software selection checklist to turn these requirements into a procurement record. A tool can pass one row and need a separate workflow for another.
Five workflows to evaluate
| Platform | Workflow to investigate | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| SurgePV | Connected design, modeling, electrical workflow, materials and proposals | Confirm the exact implementation, exports and responsible-review requirements |
| Aurora Solar | Residential design and customer sales with plan-specific modeling and services | Separate included features from paid services and integration entitlements |
| HelioScope | Commercial solar-plus-storage design, simulation, financials and sales | Verify the configuration, current plan and required reports |
| OpenSolar | Solar design and sales with a free core application | Separate in-app work from chargeable external connectivity |
| PVcase | Product-specific site selection, CAD design and yield workflows | Identify required portfolio products and compatible CAD licenses |
SurgePV: inspect the connected design basis
SurgePV supports roof modeling, array layout, shading analysis, yield and financial modeling, electrical workflow support, materials and proposals. Explore the solar design workflow, shading workflow and proposal workflow using permitted project inputs.
Ask the demonstration to follow one project from input evidence to the files your team actually needs. Check how equipment substitutions, geometry corrections and financial changes affect each output. Confirm which steps are implemented, which need manual review, and which external documents remain necessary. A generated electrical document does not replace the responsible designer, authority or utility’s review.
The listed pricing is USD1,899 per user per year for an individual seat. A three-seat annual plan is USD1,499 per user, or USD4,497 total; a five-seat plan is USD1,299 per user, or USD6,495 total. Confirm current terms and scope in writing. Those prices do not prove that your team can eliminate every other tool.
Aurora Solar: compare the plan and service scope
Aurora’s pricing page lists Basic at USD159 per user per month on monthly billing or USD1,620 per user per year on annual billing. Premium lists USD259 monthly or USD2,640 annually. Both list one user and 50 projects per month. Premium lists LiDAR-assisted and battery modeling; Enterprise includes APIs and access to additional professional services.
For a residential sales workflow, inspect the proposal, model inputs and available imagery. For engineering deliverables, distinguish product outputs from ordered plan-set or engineering services and confirm the applicable scope and charges. A missing native output does not establish that every customer must buy a particular CAD product.
HelioScope: evaluate current commercial capabilities
HelioScope’s current product description covers commercial rooftop, carport and ground-mount solar with storage, simulation and financials. Its scope includes sales as well as design. The earlier characterization of HelioScope as a yield-only tool without carport or financial workflows was misleading.
Test the exact project configuration, loss assumptions, report format and customer deliverable. Ask for current pricing and plan limits. Do not turn vendor speed or accuracy statements into universal results for every site, team or project reviewer. Confirm professional-service boundaries and any required supplementary drawings.
OpenSolar: inspect the selected energy calculator
OpenSolar documents PVWatts and SAM calculation options. Its documentation describes hourly calculations and SAM integration with 3D shading, rather than the earlier claim that it uses only annual averages. The chosen model and settings matter; the software’s price is not a prediction-error measurement.
Its 2026 connectivity announcement distinguishes a free core app from chargeable API Access and supported connectors starting on 16 April 2026. Evaluate the actual equipment, design, proposal and external-data workflow. Do not assume that paid connectors imply a paid core-design tier or that a free platform is inherently unsuitable for commercial work.
PVcase: identify the portfolio product
PVcase’s product portfolio separates Prospect, Ground Mount, Roof Mount and Yield. Ground Mount and Roof Mount are AutoCAD-driven design products; Roof Mount addresses commercial and industrial rooftops. Treating the entire portfolio as one ground-mount cloud application would obscure those differences.
Identify the products, compatible CAD environment, drawing requirements and license costs for the assignment. Check survey and terrain inputs, editable handoffs and how design changes reach downstream studies. The right fit depends on the engineering workflow, not an invented minimum project capacity or universal onboarding period.
Match the evaluation to residential, commercial or utility work
Residential installers and sales teams
Bring a real roof configuration, available imagery, the proposed equipment and the customer’s relevant consumption information. Ask how the tool handles uncertain dimensions, shading objects and equipment changes. Inspect customer-facing costs, generation and finance assumptions separately. A simple roof does not remove electrical or permitting responsibilities.
Measure preparation, corrections, review and proposal work with your own staff. A vendor’s successful demonstration does not establish a guaranteed design time or higher close rate. Confirm how an accessible fallback reaches customers who cannot use an interactive proposal.
Commercial EPCs and designers
Include the difficult interfaces in the test: roof constraints, several electrical configurations, storage if relevant, a utility connection and required review documents. Record which inputs are measured and which remain provisional. Obtain current jurisdictional requirements from the authority and utility; generic software output does not establish compliance with every adopted code.
A bill of materials, single line diagram and customer proposal serve different recipients. Check that each identifies the same accepted design basis and that quantities, ratings, scope and exclusions are reconciled before release.
Utility-scale developers and consultants
Define survey, terrain, civil, electrical and energy-study handoffs before choosing software. Ask the intended project reviewer which report, input and uncertainty requirements apply. Preserve the boundary between an operational layout, a yield study and an issued engineering package.
PVsyst and PV*SOL are additional simulation and planning products worth investigating where their actual deliverables fit the assignment. They are not automatically simulation-only substitutes for every other workflow. The ten-tool comparison provides a broader product-level shortlist; the software roundup also covers preliminary calculators.
Check modeling assumptions before comparing annual kWh
Model agreement is useful for locating differences; it is not proof that either result matches future measured generation. Record weather data, geometry, equipment, inverter configuration, shading, temperature treatment, clipping, losses and availability. Explain intentional differences before interpreting the annual totals.
Sun access, incident irradiance and delivered AC energy are different quantities. A shading percentage should not be relabeled as the same percentage of annual AC loss without considering how the model treats electrical configuration and other losses. Imagery or LiDAR can improve the geometry evidence, but its presence alone does not establish a universal prediction error.
A P50 or P90 result needs a stated period and uncertainty method. P90 is an exceedance level under that model, not the lowest output that can occur or an automatic bankability certificate. Agree the study requirements with the intended recipient.
Compare cloud and CAD responsibilities
For a browser-based workflow, test permissions, revision access, data export, service availability and what remains usable after cancellation. Do not assume that browser access means simultaneous editing or that every change automatically reaches every downstream file.
For a CAD-based workflow, confirm the supported application, version, license and file exchange. Test whether the receiving engineering team can open and edit the exported files. Desktop software may still require connectivity for licensing or services; a desktop label does not establish unrestricted offline operation.
For integrations, ask for current documentation, supported operations, permissions and the commercial entitlement. Separate native connections, paid connectors, APIs and manual exports. Keep a manual handoff when the required integration has not been demonstrated.
Use an acceptance record rather than a star rating
- List required deliverables. Name the file, recipient and acceptance condition for each output.
- Freeze the common inputs. Record the source geometry, equipment, weather, financial basis and unresolved questions.
- Run the representative project. Include corrections and failed steps, not just the best demonstration.
- Review the outputs. Have the intended recipients check units, completeness, editable formats and assumptions.
- Change a relevant input. Identify every dependent output and verify how it is updated, regenerated and reviewed.
- Price the complete workflow. Include seats, project limits, services, connectors, retained CAD, training and specialist studies.
- Record the decision. State what passed, what needs evidence, what remains manual and who accepts the unresolved risk.
| Requirement | Observed output and version | Evidence or missing input | Recipient decision | Follow-up owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layout | Fill in from trial | Fill in from trial | Accept, revise or reject | Assign |
| Energy study | Fill in from trial | Fill in from trial | Accept, revise or reject | Assign |
| Proposal | Fill in from trial | Fill in from trial | Accept, revise or reject | Assign |
| Materials/electrical handoff | Fill in from trial | Fill in from trial | Accept, revise or reject | Assign |
| Integration/export | Fill in from trial | Fill in from trial | Accept, revise or reject | Assign |
For a hypothetical cost screen, three seats at USD1,499 per year total USD4,497. If your trial measures two hours of recoverable transfer work per week over 48 working weeks, that is 96 hours of labor capacity. Neither number establishes a payback period: include implementation costs, retained tools and how the capacity would actually be used.
If you want to evaluate SurgePV, request a guided demo with permitted inputs and this deliverable record. Confirm the product scope and commercial terms before committing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best solar design software?
Choose against the deliverables your team must produce and the reviewer who must accept them. The five tools here serve different workflows. Compare available plans, supported equipment, data inputs, exports, licensing and review responsibilities before choosing; this guide does not establish a universal performance winner.
Is free solar design software less accurate?
A license price does not establish prediction accuracy. OpenSolar documents hourly PVWatts calculations and a SAM option with 3D shading integration. Evaluate the selected model, site inputs, weather and loss assumptions. Compare against relevant evidence instead of assigning an error percentage based on whether software is free.
Can solar design software replace AutoCAD?
Replacement depends on the drawings and editable files your team must deliver. Some workflows use cloud outputs; others retain CAD for civil or electrical coordination. PVcase separates AutoCAD-driven design products from other portfolio products. Test required exports and recipient acceptance before retiring a CAD license.
Does a P90 forecast guarantee lender acceptance?
No. A P90 value describes an exceedance probability under a stated uncertainty model and period. It is not a worst-case guarantee or automatic financing approval. Ask the intended reviewer for required inputs, uncertainty treatment, report format and qualified review before commissioning a study.
How much does SurgePV cost for three users?
The listed three-seat annual plan is USD1,499 per user, or USD4,497 total. The individual plan is USD1,899 per user per year. Confirm the current written quote, implementation scope, taxes and commercial terms; USD1,899 does not purchase three seats.
How should I test software before buying?
Use permitted project inputs and a written deliverable checklist. Record source geometry, equipment, weather, losses and financial assumptions. Check output files with their intended recipients, change one relevant design input, and measure correction and handoff work as well as successful generation. Record missing evidence and retained tools.
