Best Solar Design Software (2026): Top 10 Compared

Aurora Solar is a San Francisco-based software company that sells cloud tools for designing and selling residential and commercial solar. In August 2021 it acquired Folsom Labs, the developer of HelioScope, which continues as a separate commercial product and appears as its own entry in this comparison.

The core product combines a design mode and a sales mode. Designers build a 3D model of the roof and nearby trees from HD imagery, with Google and Vexcel imagery included and Nearmap available as an add-on, then place modules, inverters and batteries from a component database. AutoDesigner places panels to meet an energy target, and the software automates stringing and fire pathway setbacks. Performance simulation and irradiance analysis run on every plan, and custom design rules set offsets and losses.

The sales side produces tablet-friendly proposals with custom branding, price-per-watt or per-component pricing, adders, incentives and an integrated utility rate database. Reps can toggle panels on and off during a meeting and show sun path animations. Premium adds LIDAR-assisted modelling, bankable shade reports and battery modelling for backup, self-consumption and arbitrage. Enterprise adds AI-assisted site models, drone mapping, unlimited users, dealer configurations and access to plan sets and engineering stamps.

HelioScope was built by Folsom Labs, which Aurora Solar acquired in August 2021. At the time Folsom Labs said HelioScope had been used to design more than 1,200 GW of projects in over 100 countries. The product is now sold as HelioScope, an Aurora company, with its own site, pricing and commercial focus.

HelioScope is aimed at commercial solar rather than homeowner sales. A single project can combine rooftop arrays, carports and ground mounts with battery storage. Automatic layout, saved profiles and simulations that the vendor says take under a minute are designed so that a commercial project can be modelled in about 20 minutes. All plans include multiple designs per project, CAD export, single-line diagrams, a library of about 50,000 modules and inverters, 8760 production reports, shade reports and global weather coverage.

The vendor states that its production estimates fall within 1% of PVsyst and that accuracy has been validated by DNV, NREL and the California Energy Commission. Pro adds LIDAR-assisted modelling, AI obstruction detection, independent tilt, parcel boundaries in some regions, financial modelling, sales proposals and P90, P95 and P99 values. Enterprise adds unlimited users, single-axis trackers, export to PVsyst, direct API access and single sign-on.

OpenSolar was founded in 2017 by solar industry veterans Adam Pryor and Andrew Birch and is based in Australia. It says more than 28,000 active solar professionals in over 185 countries use the platform, and it was named Australia's 28th fastest-growing technology company in 2025. The company also says it donates 1% of annual revenue to solar electrification in underserved communities.

The free model is the main difference from other products here. OpenSolar explains that partners, including module and inverter manufacturers, finance companies, distributors, permitting firms and education providers, pay to be part of the platform so that installers do not. The company estimates that a medium-sized installer sending 100 proposals a month would save around $60,000 a year by switching, which is a vendor estimate.

The product menu covers design with auto design, automatic bill of materials, a mounting designer and single-line diagrams. Selling tools include proposals, a cash flow module, integrated finance and e-signature. Management tools cover a shop for ordering equipment, project management, CRM, permitting, team features and an API. OpenSolar also runs a lead programme that connects homeowners with installers, and it was promoting a product built for India at REI 2026 at the time of checking.

Solargraf was developed by Sofdesk, a Montreal company. Enphase Energy, the microinverter and battery manufacturer, closed its acquisition of Sofdesk in January 2021 and uses Solargraf to support installers in the Enphase Installer Network with proposals, permitting, financing and post-sales support. Solargraf remains available as a standalone subscription.

The platform covers the residential workflow from first design to permit. Designers use AI-assisted tools to model roofs and size solar and battery systems, with shading tools and setbacks. Sales teams build interactive proposals with integrated financing options and can edit them on the go. Operations teams generate permit plan sets intended to meet local requirements, manage multiple projects, set role-based permissions and connect a CRM. Solargraf also offers proposal, design and permitting services for teams that want to outsource the work.

Solargraf reports more than 3 million proposals, more than 1 million permits and more than 1,000 customers, with support in 16 languages. These are vendor figures. Pricing is published as annual bundles sized by project count and number of users, and every plan includes the same core features. The site states that its shading and production estimates are verified by leading institutions for bankability, which buyers should check against their lenders' requirements.

Arka360 is a solar software company led by founder and chief executive Surya Potharaju. It describes a single platform on which solar EPCs design systems, manage leads and generate proposals, which it says can be done in 20 minutes or less. The company reports more than 700,000 projects, more than 900,000 design workflows and more than 4,000 installers across 27 countries, including the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, India and several African and European markets. These are vendor figures.

The design tools cover 3D visualisation, shading reports, generation reports, PV layout CAD export and, on higher plans, single-line diagram export, micro-inverter and optimiser design, manual stringing and 3D model export to SketchUp and PVsyst. The US plans add AI-assisted modelling and battery storage and backup sizing on Premium. Lead management, task management and site survey tools sit in the CRM module, and an engineering service portal lets installers order services from the same account.

The pricing page shows several plan sets for different regions. The US-facing tiers are Basic at $199 a month with one user and Premium at $358 a month with two users, while Indian plans are priced in rupees plus GST with residential project allowances. Enterprise adds API integration, advanced user management and custom development.

Pylon is a solar software company based in Sydney, Australia. It sells design and proposal software on a pay-as-you-go basis, charging per project rather than per seat. Its design features reference Australian requirements, and the installer quotes on its pricing page come from Australian businesses.

The Standard plan covers solar system design, high-resolution imagery where available, easy panel placement with unlimited modifications, real-time customer load data, roof plan and drone imagery upload, financial projections and instant web and PDF proposals. Pro adds custom load profiles, battery storage design and commercial-sized projects. Each project allows up to five designs, and both plans include inverter string advice, component location markings and PV site information aligned with AS/NZS 5033:2021.

Add-ons extend Pylon toward running the installer's business. The Solar CRM adds pipelines for solar, heat-pump and service sales, email sync, SMS, web forms, automatic lead processing and AI assistance. A payment gateway accepts card payments from customers. Enterprise adds single sign-on, API access including a solar production API, custom CRM integration and dedicated support.

Scanifly says its team includes people who had worked for solar contractors and set out to avoid roof climbs, tape measurements and designs drawn from low-resolution remote imagery. The company is fully remote and builds software for both the sales and operations stages of an installation.

The workflow starts with a drone flight, which Scanifly says takes about five minutes and cuts field time by 90%. The flight produces photorealistic 3D models from which designers set roof layouts, fire setbacks, module type and orientation, and run shading analysis and production modelling. Digital checklists capture structural, electrical and property data during the same visit, which the vendor says reduces roof climbs and missed information.

For sales, Simple Design lets reps produce early estimates using LIDAR, Nearmap imagery and approved shading, with integrations into CRM and proposal tools. For operations, Scanifly turns 3D models into permit-ready plan sets, exports to CAD or directly to racking partners, and offers in-house design services. The company states that a project can go from site survey to a stamped plan set in 48 hours. Buyers should ask for a written quote covering the subscription and the dollar cost of service credits.

PVsyst is developed by PVsyst SA in Satigny, near Geneva, Switzerland. Its core product, PVsyst 8, is desktop software for the design, simulation and detailed analysis of photovoltaic systems, and a PVsyst 8 licence also grants access to PVsyst 7. Support is offered by email, forums, FAQs, PDF tutorials and video tutorials in English and French, and the company sells consulting for teams that want personalised training.

PVsyst is not a sales tool. It is used to model a system in detail with component and weather databases, run hourly and sub-hourly simulations, break down losses and calculate project profitability. Several products in this comparison position themselves against it: HelioScope states production estimates within 1% of PVsyst, while Arka360, HelioScope Enterprise and RatedPower export models or yield data to PVsyst.

Two other products sit beside PVsyst 8. PVsystCLI is a command-line interface for automating simulations of projects created in PVsyst 8 and for converting meteorological files, installed on servers for batch processing. PVsystBasic is a simplified tool for sizing direct solar pumping systems at off-grid sites. Licences are annual, with discounts for grouped orders and reduced prices for education, research and students.

RatedPower was founded in Madrid in 2017 by Andrea Barber, Miguel Ángel Torrero and Juan Romero. Enverus, an Austin-based energy data and software company, acquired it in September 2022. At the time of the deal RatedPower said its software had helped develop more than 43 GW of projects in over 160 countries.

The product, called pvDesign at the time of the acquisition, automates the layout, engineering and feasibility analysis of utility-scale solar plants. Users run site analysis, test electrical and equipment configurations, produce a bill of materials with CAPEX and LCOE, and get capacity and energy yield estimates while they design. Storage can be added as AC- or DC-coupled batteries, or designed as a standalone plant. Interconnection tools size the facility and produce single-line diagram and gen-tie reports, and a financial module tests project profitability.

Basic covers layout, modelling, energy yield estimates, storage and interconnection, with 3D energy yield packages sold as an add-on. Advanced adds detailed PV engineering with layout editing, live technical training and a support repository. Enterprise adds site analysis and prospecting with Enverus datasets on power plants, substations and parcels for markets outside the US and Canada, team management, single sign-on and a designated principal consultant. Energy yield can be exported to PVsyst, and support is offered in seven languages.

PVcase describes itself as an end-to-end solar development platform covering site selection, PV design and yield optimisation. The company says more than 1,800 customers in over 80 countries use it and that more than 4 TW of solar capacity is designed with it each year. Its demo page names AES, ib Vogt, RWE, Voltalia and Iberdrola among customers. These are vendor figures.

The platform has four main products. Prospect is a cloud tool for early-stage site selection and due diligence, analysing land around points of interconnection, and it is now also marketed for data centre siting. Ground Mount runs on AutoCAD and automates utility-scale layouts, adapting rows and structures to real terrain; the vendor says it can make construction-ready design up to 90% faster. Roof Mount automates layouts for complex commercial and industrial rooftops. Yield provides energy modelling connected to the design.

Buyers can use one product or the whole platform. PVcase is aimed at developers, engineering firms and EPCs rather than residential installers, and it has no homeowner proposal tools. Because Ground Mount is built on AutoCAD, teams should account for AutoCAD licences alongside PVcase when budgeting, and should ask for a quote that covers the modules they plan to use.