OpenSolar
Our founder has used this tool. About him
What it is
OpenSolar is solar design, proposal, CRM and project-management software for solar installers, and the core app is free. Its AI assistant, Ada (introduced in OpenSolar 3.0), builds automatic designs from 3D imagery or a quick roof sketch: it calculates pitch, azimuth and shading, detects obstructions in 3D, places panels to the installer's own templates and pricing, and generates a bill of materials that feeds the customer proposal. Ada also powers an AI Lead Gen website widget that shows homeowners an automatically designed system with costs and savings and routes the lead into the CRM, and it can create projects by voice. Pricing as of Oct 19, 2026: the core app is free; since April 16, 2026, API access is paid per project and accounting connectors for Xero or QuickBooks cost $49 a month in the US.
Description based on opensolar.com (also opensolar.com/auto-design, opensolar.com/post/free-platform-data-export-pricing, support.opensolar.com/hc/en-us/articles/12329463787023-Accounting-Connectors), checked Oct 19, 2026. Features and pricing change, so check the vendor's site for current details.
Listed because contractors in our entries used it, and our founder has used it himself. Not an endorsement. Commissions and sponsorships never change which tools or entries are listed or their order. Read our disclosure.
Use cases with OpenSolar (1)
Cut rooftop solar design time from 15 minutes to 30 seconds with AI auto-design
Sunnova
US residential solar company Sunnova built OpenSolar's AI design engine into Catalyst, the app its authorized dealers use to sell systems. Sunnova SVP Jake Wachman told PV Tech that AI took design turnaround from about 15 minutes at best to 30 seconds, removed the back-and-forth with a central design team, and often catches trees, pipes and vents a salesperson might miss. He said many AI designs go from proposal to the field without changes, but a human still reviews each one in the proposal process. Context: Sunnova filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2025, and Solaris acquired its assets and operations that September.