Dan Moscatiello

If you want a short list that covers most real-world solar workflows, build around Aurora Solar or HelioScope for day-to-day design, keep PVsyst for engineering-grade validation, and use PVWatts as a fast, trusted cross-check. If budget control matters more than per-seat tooling, OpenSolar is the cleanest “start designing today” option. This guide walks you through five tools that installers, designers, and engineers keep coming back to when layouts, shading, production, and permitting outputs need to line up. You’ll get what each platform does best, where it usually disappoints, what the published pricing looks like when available, and how to run a workflow that prevents ugly surprises at install, PTO, or year-one production review. Expect practical buying advice, not marketing talk: what to standardize, what to double-check, and what to keep as a backup when deadlines hit and software support queues get slow. 1. Aurora Solar Aurora Solar earns its spot when you need one environment ...