PVcase vs Solesca

How do Solesca and PVcase compare, feature by feature?

Feature	Ground Mount (PVcase)	Roof Mount (PVcase)	Yield (PVcase)	Design License (Solesca)	Engineering License (Solesca)
Vendor	PVcase			Solesca
01Licensing and limits
Where it runsPVcase’s system requirements: Windows 10 (x64) and AutoCAD 2019 to 2027, and the two plugins will not run on virtual machines.	Inside AutoCAD, on Windows	Inside AutoCAD, on Windows	In the browser	In the browser	In the browser
Published pricePVcase names its plans and quotes each on request: Yield Essentials and Professional; Ground Mount and Roof Mount Professional.	~$12,000 USD	~$8,000 USD	On request	$3,500 USD+$2,000 terrain tracking adder	$5,500 USD+$2,000 terrain tracking adder
Projects	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
System size ceiling	1 GW+	1 GW+	1 GW+	Up to 1 GW	Up to 1 GW
Free view and comment seats	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Included	Included
02Simulation
Energy yield simulation	IncludedQuickYield, preliminary	IncludedPreliminary, hourly	Included	Included	Included
Simulation on terrainSolesca simulates each frame in the engine that placed it; PVcase simulates terrain in Yield.	Not includedQuickYield assumes flat terrain	Not listed	IncludedComplex terrain modeling	Included	Included
Bifacial modules	Not listed	Not includedSimulates monofacial modules only	Included	Included	Included
15-minute weather data	Not listed	Not listed	Included	IncludedHourly, 15- or 5-minute files	IncludedHourly, 15- or 5-minute files
P90, P95 and P99	Not listed	Not listed	IncludedP50 to P99	Included	Included
8760 hourly export	Not listed	IncludedHourly results to CSV	IncludedTime series	Included	Included
Production report	Not listed	IncludedExcel or CSV	IncludedPDF	Included	Included
DNV SolarFarmer simulation	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Unlimited
PVsyst exportNot a difference worth switching over: both land the geometry in PVsyst.	IncludedPVC 2.0 geometry, since August 2026	IncludedPVC with roof and shading objects	Not listed	IncludedNative PVC export & PVsyst ZIP export	IncludedNative PVC export & PVsyst ZIP export
03Drawings and deliverables
Single-line diagramBoth PVcase layout products export one; Solesca’s comes with the plan set add-on.	LimitedDrawn in AutoCAD; needs a higher-tier AutoCAD license	LimitedDrawn in AutoCAD; needs a higher-tier AutoCAD license	Not listed	Included$1,000 add-on	Included$1,000 add-on
Layout drawn in DWG, inside AutoCAD	Included	Included	Not listed	Layered DXF export	Layered DXF export
Opens an existing DWG or DXFSolesca overlays images and PDFs instead.	Included	IncludedConverts DWG and DXF	Not listed	Not included	Not included
Cross sections and front views	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Included	Included
Equipment settings sheet, with inverter and relay settings	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Included$1,000 add-on
Stampable plan setSite plan, SLD and equipment settings, up to three transformers (typically about 15 MW). PVcase calls Roof Mount’s string plans and wiring layouts permit-ready. Solesca does not stamp.	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Included$1,000 add-on
Electric stamp by a licensed PE	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	SOL Credits, market rate
KMZ export	IncludedKML	Not listed	Not listed	Included	Included
04Layout
Ground mount	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Included	Included
Rooftop and carport	Not listed	Included	Not listed	Included	Included
Automatic layout	Included	Included	Not listed	Included	Included
AI obstruction detection	Not listed	Through Airteam, a partner service	Not listed	IncludedARGUS AI, with a confidence threshold	IncludedARGUS AI, with a confidence threshold
Keepouts and setbacks	IncludedPlacement rules	IncludedParapets and no-go zones	Not listed	IncludedSetbacks per obstruction type	IncludedSetbacks per obstruction type
East-west racking	Included	Included	Not listed	Included	Included
Single-axis trackers	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Included	Included
Racking that follows the terrainSolesca’s terrain tracking add-on attaches to either license.	IncludedIncluding terrain-following trackers	Not listed	Not listed	Add-on	Add-on
Piling analysis per frame	IncludedPile lengths in the BOM	Not listed	Not listed	Add-on	Add-on
Terrain without a site survey	IncludedOnline terrain import	Not listed	Not listed	Add-onBare-earth elevation	Add-onBare-earth elevation
Terrain from your own surveyGround Mount reads contours, points and 3D faces from a DWG, or a Civil 3D surface.	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Not included
Grading, with cut-and-fill heatmapsSolesca places racking on terrain; it does not grade a site.	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Not included
Roads drawn into the layout	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Included	Included
Module and inverter library, with PAN and OND upload	IncludedComponent Database	IncludedExternal library; PAN and OND not listed	IncludedComponent Database	IncludedCalifornia Energy Commission list	IncludedCalifornia Energy Commission list
05Electrical engineering
DC stringing with wire losses	Included	Included	Not listed	Not included	Included
Cable sizing	IncludedTo IEC or NEC	IncludedTo a voltage-drop target	Not listed	Not included	IncludedChecked against the NEC
Cable routing, with trays or trenches	Included2D and 3D, following the terrain	IncludedCable trays, in 3D	Not listed	Not included	IncludedHome runs and a wire schedule
Combiner boxes	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Included
Module-level optimizers	Not listed	Included	Not listed	Not included	IncludedFor NEC rapid shutdown
Inverters placed in the layout	Included	IncludedIn 2D and 3D	Not listed	Not included	Included
Transformers placed in the layout	Included	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Included
Bill of materials	IncludedWith piles and cable quantities	Included	Not listed	IncludedIn the production report	IncludedEngineering-grade, with transformers and poles
06Storage and markets
Storage designNeither Solesca license includes storage design.	IncludedAC- and DC-coupled, or standalone	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Not included
Power market analysis, LMP and basis risk	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not included	Not included
07Team, data and support
API access	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Included	Included
Admin and member rolesPVcase keeps users, company admins and a license per product in one License Manager.	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included
Shared projects and comments	Not listed	Not listed	IncludedView-only for teammates	IncludedLive co-editing and map comments	IncludedLive co-editing and map comments
SupportPVcase publishes no response time.	Email and live chat	Email and live chat	Email and live chat	30-minute average first response	30-minute average first response

PVcase Ground Mount, Roof Mount and Yield against the Solesca Design and Engineering Licenses, from licensing to support. PVcase leads on siting data, civil work (survey terrain, grading, sections), the native DWG, storage design and a single-line diagram in both layout products; Solesca leads on running in the browser, the interconnection package, DNV SolarFarmer and API access. PVcase sells a product per stage, so a line one product leaves open often sits beside a yes under another. Terrain tracking attaches to either Solesca license; plan sets attach to the Engineering License only, and a licensed PE partner signs them.PVcase product and plan pages, help center (362 articles), system requirements and release notes, retrieved 5 Oct 2026 · Solesca license model and docs.solesca.com

Where does each tool fit in a C&I project?

01Screen the site
PVcase: Covered. Prospect: 400+ layers, parcels, landowners, grid capacity
Solesca: Covered. Slope, wetlands, canopy, grid and parcel layers
02Lay out the array
PVcase: Covered. Ground Mount or Roof Mount, inside AutoCAD
Solesca: Covered. AI layouts and ARGUS AI; terrain as an add-on
03Simulate the yield
PVcase: Covered. Yield, a separate cloud product; estimates in the layout tools
Solesca: Covered. P50 to P99, DNV SolarFarmer and PVC export
04Price and propose
PVcase: Not covered. No proposal tool listed
Solesca: Not covered. Not in either license
05Engineer the system
PVcase: Covered. Stringing, cables, transformers and storage, in AutoCAD
Solesca: Covered. Engineering License: equipment to the grid, stringing, BOM
06Interconnection package
PVcase: Partly covered. Single-line diagrams and BOMs; no plan set listed
Solesca: Covered. Plan set add-on: site plan, SLD, equipment settings
07Stamp
PVcase: Not covered. Not listed
Solesca: Through a partner, outside the software. A licensed PE partner signs, at market rate
08Construction drawings
PVcase: Partly covered. Layout, cables and sections already in the DWG
Solesca: Not covered. Layered DXF out to your CAD team

Eight stages of a C&I project, left to right, and how far each carries it. PVcase covers screening, layout, simulation and engineering with a product per stage, and its layout tools work inside the drawing; Solesca covers screening through the interconnection package on one model, has no proposal tools, and leaves the stamp to a PE partner.PVcase product and plan pages, help center (362 articles), system requirements and release notes, retrieved 5 Oct 2026 · Solesca license model and docs.solesca.com

Each PVcase product covers its stage in depth, and each is a separate purchase, interface and hand-off. The expensive part of C&I design is rarely the first layout; it is the reconciliation when the layout, the electrical calculations and the yield model live in different files and drift apart. PVcase also keeps layout iteration inside AutoCAD, so every designer who changes a layout needs a CAD seat to do it.

Pre-CAD design: Pre-CAD design is the stage where layout, equipment selection and yield are decided before a project enters CAD for construction documentation. It is the stage that sets the cost basis of the project, because changing a design in CAD costs sharply more than changing it before drafting starts.

Where they win

Terrain-heavy ground mount is PVcase's home ground, and the depth that matters there is civil. Ground Mount reads your survey terrain, grades the site with cut-and-fill heatmaps and draws cross sections, all inside the DWG your drafters already use. Solesca places trackers and tables on terrain and simulates them, but it does not grade a site, so if your engineering runs on Autodesk tooling end to end and your output is a construction drawing set, PVcase fits that shape better than a browser platform does.

Prospect is a siting product in its own right: 400+ map layers, parcel and landowner records, zoning, hosting capacity and grid injection studies. Solesca's screening layers cover slope, wetlands, canopy and the grid, so a developer whose bottleneck is finding land gets further with Prospect. Ground Mount also designs AC- and DC-coupled battery storage, which neither Solesca license includes, and both PVcase layout products export a single-line diagram, where Solesca's comes with the plan set add-on.

On layout over terrain the two are level: both place trackers and fixed-tilt tables on the ground as found. On simulation the difference is where it runs. Solesca simulates each frame in the engine that placed it; PVcase simulates terrain in Yield, a separate product.

One thing to discount in either direction: the PVsyst hand-off. Solesca exports a native PVC file, and PVcase added PVC 2.0 export to Ground Mount in August 2026. Both land your geometry in PVsyst without a rebuild, so neither vendor holds an edge worth switching over.

Do you need AutoCAD to design solar?

With PVcase, for layout work, yes. Ground Mount and Roof Mount run inside AutoCAD on Windows, and PVcase's published system requirements list AutoCAD 2019 through 2027 and state that the plugins will not run on virtual machines. Every designer who lays out a site needs a seat of both.

To lay out a site in PVcase3 layers per designer

Ground Mount or Roof MountThe PVcase layout plugin
An AutoCAD seatVersions 2019 to 2027
A Windows desktopThe plugins will not run on virtual machines

Energy modeling is PVcase Yield and site selection is PVcase Prospect, each a separate product.

To lay out a site in Solesca1 license per designer

A Solesca licenseLayout, shading and yield on either license
Any machine with a browserNothing to install

Layouts export to editable DXF, so the drawing still reaches CAD for construction documents.

What one designer needs before the first layout. PVcase's layout products run as AutoCAD plugins on a Windows desktop, per its published system requirements; Solesca needs a license and a browser.PVcase system requirements, retrieved 5 Oct 2026

With Solesca, no. Design runs in the browser on the machines your team already uses, and layouts export to editable DXF, so your CAD team picks the drawing up in the tool they know. CAD keeps its place, which is construction documentation. The question is whether every iteration before that stage should cost a CAD seat.

What should you require in a PVcase alternative?

Six checks separate the candidates for rooftop work, and they are worth settling before any demo. Here they are with Solesca's answer to each. Hold any vendor, this one included, to the same six.

01
Layout that does not take a CAD seat per designer
Design runs in a browser tab on the machines your team already has.
02
Obstruction handling with setbacks you control
ARGUS AI reads the rooftop image and returns HVAC units, skylights, wires and drains in seconds.
03
Simulation with validation a lender accepts
DNV SolarFarmer runs inside the platform, and Solesca’s simulation agrees with PVsyst to within 1%.
04
A route from layout to the permit-ready drawings
Plan sets and SLDs come as an add-on, with the Electric Stamp at market rate through SOL Credits.
05
DXF your CAD team can open and edit
Every layout exports to editable, layered DXF.
06
Screening that costs nothing per site
Neither license counts projects, so a rooftop team can model many roofs to build a few.

Which PVcase alternatives are worth evaluating?

The shortlist follows your deliverable, not your preference. Solesca fits C&I and community solar teams whose output is the interconnection package: browser-based, unmetered, layout through bankable simulation to the drawing set.

HelioScope fits a small commercial team that wants a lower entry price and storage design, which it includes on every tier; weigh that against its allowance of 10 projects a month and 120 a year per license, and a 5 MW DC ceiling on Pro. PVsyst is the simulation of record rather than a layout tool, so a team that only needs the financeable model can buy PVsyst on its own. Residential teams belong on Aurora rather than on anything else named here.

What does leaving AutoCAD cost a rooftop team?

Count the switching costs honestly. Your drafting standards, title blocks and details live in CAD templates that took years to build, and your drafters' fluency is in AutoCAD, not in a new interface. Neither cost disappears because a license is cheaper.

The move that keeps both is to leave CAD where it earns its seat, construction documentation, and stop spending it on iteration. Solesca layouts export to editable DXF, so the drawing lands back in the tool your drafters know, and because Solesca does not meter, running it beside PVcase during your current term uses no allowance. Bring one roof you are working on now, model it in both, and hand the PVsyst comparison to whoever signs your drawings.

Common questions

Does Solesca require AutoCAD?

No. Solesca runs in the browser, and layouts export to DXF so a CAD team can pick the drawing up in the tool they already use.

Can we design commercial rooftops without AutoCAD?

Yes. Solesca runs in the browser, ARGUS AI detects rooftop obstructions such as HVAC units, skylights, wires and drains and applies the setbacks you specify, and finished layouts export to editable DXF, so construction documentation stays in the CAD tool your team already uses.

Does PVcase require AutoCAD?

For layout work, yes. PVcase Ground Mount and Roof Mount run inside AutoCAD on Windows, per the published system requirements, which also state the plugins will not run on virtual machines. PVcase Prospect and PVcase Yield are cloud products.

Does PVcase Roof Mount run on a Mac or a virtual machine?

No. PVcase publishes system requirements for Roof Mount and Ground Mount that specify Windows 10 (x64) with AutoCAD 2019 through 2027, and state that the plugins will not run on virtual machines.

Does PVcase produce a single-line diagram or a plan set?

PVcase Ground Mount and Roof Mount both export a single-line diagram, and PVcase describes Roof Mount’s string plans and wiring layouts as permit-ready documentation. Neither its product pages nor its help center list a plan set package with a site plan and an equipment settings sheet, or a stamp. Solesca produces all three sheets as the plan set add-on to the Engineering License.

Does Solesca stamp plan sets?

No. Solesca produces the plan set as an add-on to the Engineering License. The Electric Stamp is a market-rate service through a licensed PE partner, bought with SOL Credits, and an engineer of record signs the drawings.

Does Solesca offer storage design?

Neither Solesca license includes storage design. PVcase Ground Mount designs AC- and DC-coupled battery storage, standalone or with PV, so if your projects are storage-led, PVcase covers something Solesca does not.

Can both export to PVsyst?

Yes. Solesca exports a native PVC file, and PVcase added PVC 2.0 export to Ground Mount in August 2026, covering project geometry. The PVsyst hand-off is not a meaningful difference between the two.

Which is more accurate, Solesca or PVcase Yield?

Solesca validates within 1% of PVsyst, corroborated by ECA Power’s published case study, and holds an NREL CRADA (CRD-23-23746). We have not evaluated PVcase Yield and do not claim an accuracy edge over it.

How much does PVcase cost in 2026?

PVcase publishes plan names but no prices: Prospect comes in Essentials, Professional and Premium, Yield in Essentials and Professional, and Ground Mount and Roof Mount in Professional, each quoted on request. Budget an AutoCAD subscription per layout designer as well. Solesca publishes its license model rather than a price list, and neither of its licenses meters projects.

Can we run Solesca and PVcase in parallel?

Yes. Solesca does not meter projects, so a side-by-side on live sites during your current PVcase term consumes no allowance on the Solesca side. Most teams evaluate this way rather than switching cold.

Which PVcase alternative is right for our team?

It follows your deliverable. Solesca fits C&I and community solar teams, with a sweet spot of 100 kW to 10 MW, whose output is an interconnection package and who want no CAD seat per designer. HelioScope fits small commercial teams wanting a lower entry price and storage design. PVsyst is the simulation of record rather than a layout tool. Residential teams should look at Aurora. If your drafters work in AutoCAD all day and your deliverable is a construction DWG, staying on PVcase is the correct answer.

See it on your own project

Bring a site you are working on now. Thirty minutes, and you will see where PVcase ends and where a stampable plan set begins.

Book a demo

Competitor pricing and tier details are taken from published vendor pricing pages on the date shown above. They change; if you spot something stale, tell us at contact@solesca.com.