Aurora Solar
Solar design software
CAD software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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$135 per user per month
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What is Aurora Solar
Aurora Solar is a cloud-based solar sales and design platform used to create residential and small commercial PV system proposals and engineering-ready layouts. It supports remote site assessment, shade analysis, system design, and financial modeling to produce customer-facing proposals and plan sets. The product is primarily used by solar installers, EPCs, and sales teams that need standardized workflows from lead to design. It differentiates through an integrated workflow that combines design, shading/production estimation, and proposal generation in one system.
End-to-end sales-to-design workflow
Aurora Solar combines site modeling, PV layout, energy/production estimates, and proposal generation in a single platform. This reduces handoffs between separate tools for sales proposals and design documentation. Teams can standardize templates and assumptions across sales reps and designers. The integrated workflow is well-suited to high-volume residential sales operations.
Remote site assessment tools
The platform supports remote design workflows using aerial imagery and 3D site modeling to reduce the need for early site visits. It includes shade analysis capabilities that feed into production estimates and proposal outputs. This can shorten sales cycles where in-person surveying is a bottleneck. It is particularly relevant for distributed teams and multi-region installers.
Proposal and financial modeling
Aurora Solar includes customer proposal generation with configurable pricing and financing scenarios. It supports presenting system performance and economics in a format intended for customer review and signature workflows. This helps align what is sold with what is designed by tying design inputs to proposal outputs. It can reduce rework caused by mismatched assumptions between sales and engineering.
Not a general-purpose CAD
Although it includes layout and plan-set outputs, Aurora Solar is not positioned as a full general-purpose CAD system. Organizations that require complex drafting standards, extensive layer control, or broader mechanical/electrical CAD workflows may still need dedicated CAD tools. This can introduce export/import steps for detailed engineering. The CAD-related functionality is primarily optimized for solar-specific design tasks.
Best fit for distributed PV
The product focus is strongest for rooftop and distributed generation workflows rather than utility-scale plant engineering. Teams designing large ground-mount sites with detailed civil constraints, terrain grading, or advanced plant-level electrical studies may find gaps. In those cases, additional specialized engineering software is often required. This can limit suitability for organizations centered on utility-scale development.
Data and model assumptions vary
Production and financial outputs depend on underlying irradiance data, shading models, and user-entered assumptions. Differences in local conditions, tariff structures, and equipment configurations can require careful configuration and validation. Organizations with strict bankability or independent engineering requirements may need supplemental analysis and documentation. This adds process overhead when outputs must be audited.
Plan & Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key features & notes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $135 per user/month (billed annually) — $159 per user/month (billed monthly) | Tablet-friendly sales proposals; industry-leading design accuracy; HD imagery; access to on-demand site models; includes 50 projects/month, 1 user. |
| Premium | $220 per user/month (billed annually) — $259 per user/month (billed monthly) | All Basic features plus LIDAR-assisted modeling; bankable shade reports; battery modeling (backup, self-consumption, arbitrage); includes 50 projects/month, 1 user. |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing (per project) | Contact Sales for custom per-project pricing, unlimited users, APIs & integrations, advanced permissions, premium services (plan sets, engineering stamps). |
Additional (usage-based / credits and add-ons):
Pricing model: Credit-based / pay-as-you-go (optional, vendor offers credit bundles) Credit unit value: $0.10 per credit (10 credits = $1). Example costs & bundles: Instant Access Bundle — 30,000 credits for $3,000 (promotional bundle). Standard residential project pricing: 220 credits ($22) per project (promotional 150 credits / $15 for limited-time offer); Aurora AI typically 90 credits ($9) per project. Credits valid for one year. (Promotions limited-time per vendor terms.) On-demand / add-on services: On-demand site models (Standard) — Starting at $9.99 per model; expedited models and plan sets are available as add-ons (pricing varies). Discounts: Annual billing saves 15% on Basic and Premium plans (annual rates shown above).
Seller details
Aurora Solar Inc.
San Francisco, CA, USA
2013
Private
https://aurorasolar.com/
https://x.com/aurorasolar
https://www.linkedin.com/company/aurora-solar/
