Switch from OpenSolar to SurgePV: What to Check Before You Move

OpenSolar says its core app is free. SurgePV is paid, with a published price per user per year. The right choice depends on your project sizes, the outputs your clients need, and what you pay for around the tool.

This page lists what OpenSolar says about itself, what SurgePV publishes, and what to check before you move. SurgePV publishes this page and is a vendor in this category: it competes with OpenSolar, and this page compares the two. The facts here come from the vendors’ public pages, checked October 2026. We have not compared the two products side by side on a live project.

What does OpenSolar say?

• Price. OpenSolar’s post of 16 February 2026 says “the core OpenSolar app stays free”. It says charges start on 16 April 2026 for API Access and for connectors. These move data in and out of third-party tools. API Access is billed through the OpenSolar Wallet.
• Funding. The same post says OpenSolar’s model “is built around a partner ecosystem that helps fund the product”.
• Single line diagrams. A single line diagram (SLD) is a simple drawing of how a solar system is wired. OpenSolar’s help article says SLDs are supported in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and India.
• Project size. OpenSolar’s commercial design article says: “we recommend keeping 3D system designs under 500 kW”. It says larger designs are “technically possible”, but you may see slow simulations, calculation timeouts or errors when saving. It says users have modeled systems up to 5 MW by reducing complexity, for example by using 2D design mode and limiting design and payment options. This is a recommendation, not a hard cap.
• Other tools. The menu on opensolar.com lists design tools, proposals, e-signature, finance tools and a project management CRM.

How do the two compare?

Ask SurgePV about each row that matters to you. Get the answer in writing.

OpenSolar’s core app is listed as free, so it has no bar in the chart. SurgePV’s seat prices are USD per user per year from its pricing page.

Pros and cons of each tool

OpenSolar

• Pros: free core app, CRM, e-signature and finance tools in its menu, and SLD support in the US and 9 other countries.
• Cons: API Access and connectors are charged from 16 April 2026, and 3D designs over 500 kW may slow down.

SurgePV

• Pros: published per-user price and a scope that includes proposals, financial modeling and bill-of-materials output.
• Cons: paid only, guided demo with no self-serve trial, no CRM in the published scope, and SLD output not listed by name.

What does OpenSolar document about exporting your data?

These are the exports we found in OpenSolar’s help centre in October 2026:

• Project list to CSV. See How to export project data and information to CSV. Each export can include at most 2,000 projects. Use filters and run more than one export if you have more. Only Admin users can export the full set of project fields.
• Design to DXF. See Exporting a DXF (CAD data file). The file has three layers: panels, facets (roof surfaces) and obstructions.
• SLD. The SLD article above has an “Exporting the SLD” section.
• API. Moving data through the API is paid from 16 April 2026 (see the post above).

We did not find an OpenSolar guide for moving projects into another design tool. SurgePV does not publish an import guide for OpenSolar files either. We make no promise about which files SurgePV can read or how long a move takes.

What should you do before you move?

1. List your open projects. For each one, write down which outputs a client, lender or permit office needs.
2. Export your project list to CSV and your designs to DXF where you need them. Keep the originals.
3. Check your project sizes. If most of your 3D designs are under OpenSolar’s 500 kW recommendation, the size note may not matter to you.
4. Book a demo and bring one real project. Ask SurgePV to confirm in writing which of your outputs it covers, and what it can use from your OpenSolar exports.
5. Build one new project in SurgePV and compare the result with your OpenSolar output yourself.
6. Keep OpenSolar for any work it already does well. Moving is your choice, project by project.

Who should pick OpenSolar, and who should pick SurgePV?

Pick SurgePV if you want a paid tool with a published per-user price and no dependence on OpenSolar’s paid API and connectors. Stay with OpenSolar if any of these is true:

• A free core app is enough for your work, and you do not use API Access or connectors.
• You need a CRM inside the same tool. OpenSolar lists one. SurgePV’s published scope does not.
• You need SLD output by name today. OpenSolar documents it. SurgePV’s scope does not list it by name.

Bottom line

Move to SurgePV only if you want a paid tool and its scope covers the outputs you send to clients. If a free core app does the job, stay on OpenSolar. Compare on one live project: book a demo or read the SurgePV pricing first.

Where might SurgePV fit?

SurgePV may fit if you want a paid tool with a published price for roof modeling and layout, financial modeling and proposals. SurgePV supports design and documents, but does not replace approval by the responsible engineer, authority, lender, insurer or utility.

Moving from another tool? See the guides for Aurora Solar and PVsyst. For the wider field, read the OpenSolar review and the OpenSolar vs SurgePV comparison.

Sources

All checked October 2026.

• OpenSolar post: OpenSolar stays free, pay only for API Access and connectors: free core app, charges from 16 April 2026.
• OpenSolar help: How to design commercial projects: the 500 kW recommendation.
• OpenSolar help: Single line diagrams: SLD countries and export.
• OpenSolar help: Export project data to CSV: 2,000 projects per export.
• OpenSolar help: Exporting a DXF: DXF layers.
• OpenSolar home page: product menu.
• SurgePV pricing page and product scope: price, scope and stated limits.