Best Solar Design Software for Windows

Virto.CAD is a powerful PV design plugin for AutoCAD and BricsCAD. It allows EPC, engineering firms and developers in the solar industry to crate detailed drawings and calculations for commercial rooftop and ground mounted projects. Virto.CAD is an all-in-one platform that optimizes your workflow and productivity. Using our software will save you more than 85% on engineering time and costs by automating module layouts, ballast calculations, bill of materials, irradiations simulations, yield simulations, string mapping, cable trays, trenches and routing management...

The RETScreen® Clean Energy Management Software platform enables low-carbon planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting. RETScreen Expert, an advanced premium version of the software, is available in Viewer mode completely free-of-charge. We collaborate with government and multilateral organizations to co-fund and develop advanced versions of the RETScreen® Clean Energy Management Software platform. RETScreen Expert, the intelligent version of the software, incorporates benchmark, feasibility, performance and portfolio analysis for various types of facilities, including commercial, institutional, residential, industrial and power generation, all within one comprehensive platform. The focus of our innovation lab is to ensure that the RETScreen software is always at the leading edge of the clean energy technology transition, and that we continuously improve our platform to meet the complex needs of our large and rapidly growing global user community.

For solar designers who want the highest standard of precision and accuracy. PVCAD delivers unparalleled efficiency so you can finalize designs and quote jobs faster. Selecting design criteria from PVCAD’s integrated databases not only saves time but reduces the risk of costly errors and omissions. We are constantly growing our database of thousands of different inverters, modules, and racking partners. Users can also add their own equipment using the database button in the PVCAD ribbon. Would you like to have your equipment added to our database? PVCAD uses production modeling powered by PVWATTS created by NREL. Accurate 8760 data gives hour-by-hour production data over the course of the entire year. We use the most up-to-date weather data available with global coverage provided by Meteonorm. Lastly, modeling in AutoCAD allows for the most precise system measurements available with any drafting software. With valuable resources at arm’s reach, designers can achieve expert results.

Quickly complete site capacity layouts for utility-scale projects of any size using click-and-drag control and place tracker blocks at any angle within the project site. Perform more accurate site assessments in less time by analyzing all piers, verifying that trackers can be deployed to specification. Eliminate guesswork and see how modifying structural and electrical components affect system design and performance estimates. Generate automatic pier plans with pier locations, corresponding surface altitude, and top-of-pile reports for leading tracker systems, including Nextracker and Array Technologies. Automatically generate a PVSyst shade scene (.SHD) file. Also generates a project file (.PRJ) and meteo file (.MET). Open the files in PVSyst to model the energy yield including topography effects. Easily export your design to PVSyst for bankable energy yield modelling.

Simulation including the shadow influence by surrounding buildings and objects allows users to check optimal settings and module designs before system installation. The software calculates the I-V curve of solar modules accurately and quickly based on the electric characteristics of each manufacturer's product. The software calculates the amount of generated electricity based on the latitudes, longitudes, and weather conditions of the installation site. This leads to precise simulation results. The software determines the necessary components for installing PV system automatically based on the settings. Supports power generation simulation using half-cell modules. In addition, half-cell solar cells can be registered in the solar cell module database.

With GeoT*SOL you can simulate the heat pump system to the minute in order to determine annual performance figures (COP) and contribution margins. The systems can have other heat generators such as gas condensing boilers and solar systems. Movovalent, monoenergetic and bivalent modes of operation can be selected for operation. The annual performance factor according to VDI 4650 is an important factor for comparing plants according to their efficiency. It forms the basis for many funding measures and approval procedures. GeoT*SOL calculates the profitability according to the recommendation of the Federal Association of the Solar Industry (BSW) taking into account the funding: comparison of the costs of the heat pump system with a comparison system; capital value and production costs (heat price); modified internal rate of return (MIRR), profit taking into account the reinvestment.

We wish to stimulate the transition to clean and green energy. Therefore we want to provide user-friendly PV design software solutions to solar installers, engineers, wholesalers and manufacturers. This way they can create solar parks and projects both fast and efficiently. With this purpose in mind we develop highly advanced and accurate software tools. Furthermore, we believe it is important that our software can be incorporated quickly. It is our goal to create an ecosystem for engineers in the PV industry. Our PV design software speeds up the engineering process of solar PV projects by automating repetitive tasks. For instance, our software automatically generates 3D models. This means there’s no need to draw 3D models yourself and lose precious time. As a result, you’ll achieve fast and accurate drawings for preliminary designs of a construction site. Our Story: Kim Eyckmans started his engineering career at one of the top solar EPC companies in the BENELUX.

Standalone Photovoltaic system design and analysis tool. Hourly simulation, uses hourly climate files (239 U.S. locations included). Sandia Labs PV Model. Enhanced version of PV-DesignPro-S developed in cooperation with Sandia National Labs Photovoltaic Systems Department. PV-DesignPro v6.0 is a suite of Windows 95, 98, NT, Win2000, and Vista compatible software designed to simulate photovoltaic energy system operation on an hourly basis for one year, based on a user-selected climate and system design. Three versions of the PV-DesignPro program are included on the Solar Design Studio CD-ROM: "PV-DesignPro-S" for standalone systems with battery storage, "PV-DesignPro-G" for grid-connected systems with no battery storage, and "PV-DesignPro-P" for water pumping systems. Below is a screenshot of the "S" version of PV-DesignPro. The purpose of the programs are to aid in photovoltaic system design by providing accurate and in-depth information on likely system power output.

PV Designer software is ideal for residential and small commercial systems. It enables you to quickly and easily: draw a roof outline, specify set-backs and keep-out regions, incorporate SunEye shade measurements at specific locations on the roof, drag-and-drop modules, size strings, check inverter limits, and calculate the AC energy production for your system. It includes extensive worldwide databases of modules, inverters, and historical weather. You can easily try different design scenarios and compare their AC kW-hr outputs side-by-side to identify the best design. PV Designer is the design tool of choice for designing systems of around 15 kW or less, however larger systems up to 100kW can also be designed in PV Designer. The software is easy to learn and easy to use, yet enables detailed analysis traditionally only available in complicated engineering tools.

PVsyst is designed to be used by architects, engineers, and researchers. It is also a very useful educative tool. It includes a detailed contextual Help menu that explains the procedures and models that are used, and offers a user-friendly approach with a guide to develop a project. PVsyst is able to import meteo data, as well as personal data from many different sources. For the inverter sizing: the second graph displays the annual distribution of the array power, with the array and inverter nominal power. Storage in a grid system is a complex feature, as it may have different objectives, which lead to different strategies and different PV system configurations.

Photovoltaic systems, from small residential rooftops to large utility-scale systems. Concentrating Solar Power systems for electric power generation, including parabolic trough, power tower, and linear Fresnel. Power purchase agreement (PPA) projects where the system is connected to the grid at an interconnection point, and the project earns revenue through power sales. The project may be owned and operated by a single owner or by a partnership involving a flip or leaseback arrangement. Third-party ownership is where the system is installed on the customer's (host) property and owned by a separate entity (developer), and the host is compensated for power generated by the system through either a PPA or lease agreement.

BlueSol is a software for the design of photovoltaic systems in every country in the world. It allows you to perform the entire process of designing a PV system, from the preliminary assessment of producibility to the realization of the project documentation. BlueSol is a product made with a standard Microsoft interface, very easy to use but at the same time manages every detail of the PV system. Automatic and optimized insertion of strings, inverters, panels, batteries, and cables. Calculation of map of the distribution of radiations on areas. Exporting system layout to DWG and to the image. Interactive design over internet map and 3D view. Automatic insertion of inverters, panels, batteries, and connecting cables. BlueSol is available in a single installation and in different languages. Automatic and optimized insertion of strings, inverters, panels, batteries and cables.

T*SOL is the simulation program with which you can calculate the yield of a thermal solar system. No matter whether for domestic water heating, heating support, swimming pools or process heat, with T*SOL you can optimally design your planned solar thermal system, dimension storage and collector arrays (also east / west roofs) and determine the economic efficiency. At the start of the design process, you have a large selection of all relevant systems for domestic hot water heating and heating support, as well as for swimming pools and process heat. During the design, you will be supported with dimensioning suggestions and can use a parameter variation to find the optimal combination, e.g. of storage size and collector area. The parameters of the simulation results such as energies, temperatures or volumes can be displayed graphically. You can choose between different display formats such as bar charts and line graphs. The time axis can be varied between a day and up to a year.

archelios PRO is a simulation and design software dedicated to photovoltaic projects, offering an all-in-one solution for industry professionals. It allows you to design, size, simulate, and manage photovoltaic installations in a precise and optimised manner. With its cutting-edge technology, Archelios PRO helps you maximise the energy efficiency and profitability of your solar projects, while meeting regulatory and technical requirements. Additionally, the software includes powerful tools for managing self-consumption, ensuring that energy produced is efficiently utilised within the building or facility. archelios PRO benefits from responsive technical support and regular updates to its features, ensuring that you stay at the forefront of innovation in a constantly evolving sector.

Eturnity software supports installers and salesmen of climate-friendly building technologies (photovoltaic / solar, heat pumps, charging stations, e-mobility etc.). With our products we offers excellent support during the whole process of customer acquisition and consulting. The Eturnity platform strengthens a comprehensive customer acquisition, offers an effective initial consultation and increases the efficiency in the preparation of offers. We enable our customer to digitize the whole customer consultation from the initial planning and design of the building systems to the final compilation of quotations and sales. Become a sales partner of Eturnity! Since 2015, Eturnity has not only been serving Switzerland with its software products but is also inspiring more and more customers from all parts of the world. In order to provide our customers with the best possible service, we rely on competent and motivated sales partners, especially abroad. Do you see potential on your mar