Must-Have Design Software Features

Design Solutions

1. Easy and Versatile User Interface

A key aspect of choosing solar software is its versatility and ease of use. Having an easy-to-use interface is important for several reasons:

  1. It reduces the onboarding time for current and future team members
  2. It can fit multiple design styles, empowering your sales team to create designs themselves
  3. It speeds up your workflows so you can scale faster
  • Speeds up onboarding time and workflows
  • Empowers your sales team
  • Fits multiple design styles

🔆 PRO TIP: Pair HD imagery with LIDAR to create pinpoint-accurate designs and virtually eliminate change orders.

2. HD Imagery

HD imagery is key to any solar software because it will enable you to do accurate remote site assessments. Rather than sending someone on-site, with HD imagery you can assess the feasibility of a site directly from your home or office. Most solar software providers have HD imagery, but some may have limited coverage, so be sure to ask what coverage they have in your target market. Top providers should have multiple sources of imagery such as Google HD or Nearmap integrated into their platform.

  • Enables remote design
  • Increases accuracy
  • Reduces change orders

Must-Have Design Features

3. Irradiance & Performance Simulations

One of the most important steps in closing a solar sale is providing quantitative evidence of the system’s benefits. Irradiance and performance simulations let you forecast the energy production of your designs in a realistic 3D environment and provide those estimations to your customer. Look for software tools that allow you to easily generate and re-run simulations so you can make changes to your project in real-time with your customer.

  • Increases accuracy
  • Increases sales

4. Trusted Accuracy

Solar installers want to build trust with their customers by exceeding expectations. HD imagery, irradiance, and performance simulations are important, of course. More importantly, these features are validated and reliably predict the PV system's actual output. External validations from organizations like NREL and a trusted brand reputation can help inform your decision.

  • Empowers your sales team
  • Increases accuracy

5. Up-to-Date Utility Rate Database

If your solar software isn’t set up to create permit-ready designs, you’ll end up wasting a lot of time going back and forth between your design and the permitting authority. You should look for software that provides single-line diagrams and DXF files, which can speed up your sale to installation time and reduce your headaches tremendously.

  • Reduces change orders
  • Speeds up workflows

6. Permit-Ready Designs

One of the biggest obstacles that can slow down your growth as a solar business are change orders. If your solar software isn’t set up to create permit-ready designs, you’ll end up wasting a lot of time going back and forth between your design and the permitting authority. You should also look for software that provides single-line diagrams and DXF files, which can speed up your sale-to-installation time and reduce your headaches tremendously.

  • Reduces change orders
  • Speeds up workflows

Next up...

Special Features

Next, let's take a look at the features that make top software solutions stand out from the rest.