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Solar Design Lab vsAurora Solar
Aurora is a strong design and proposal surface. That's the right instinct: bring control closer to your team. The catch is that design is one part of the job. The planset, the SLD, the calcs, the stamp, the AHJ-specific structural. Aurora punts most of that to Lyra (their planset add-on) or asks you to bolt on AutoCAD or PVCase.
What Aurora Solar does well
- Strong shading model and roof layout tools
- Solid proposal builder, widely adopted in residential
- Single workflow for design + sales conversation
Where it starts to break
As volume goes up, the workflow becomes the bottleneck.
Today's loop
Designexportsend to Lyra / PEwaitreviseresend
- Plansets are produced through Lyra, an add-on whose UI is cumbersome and whose output reviewers consistently call out as missing calcs
- No native SLD generation, no wire/conduit sizing, no voltage drop. Installers report 2-3 extra hours per project doing this in AutoCAD or PVCase
- Stamping is fully outsourced via Lyra with a 24-48 hour target; revision loops are common when the initial submission gets flagged as incomplete
- Pricing tiers list at $159-$259/mo but realistic spend lands at $2,640-$6,000+/user/year once credits and add-ons are factored in (per SurgePV)
- Tough jurisdictions (HVHZ Florida wind uplift, site-specific structural) need real engineering, not templated planset output
- Three rounds of layoffs in two years and a CEO change. Support and product velocity have visibly thinned
The real limitation
Design tools stop where engineering starts. That's where the timeline and the cost get hidden.
A different approach
Solar Design Lab gives you both. Design it yourself, or hire a vetted PE. Same tool.
- Design plansets that ship as-is. Full SLD, conductor schedule, voltage drop, label package
- Stamp inside the same tool: assign a vetted PE without exporting, no incomplete-loops
- One predictable price per planset (stamping included) instead of seats + credits + AutoCAD + PVCase
- Built to handle tough AHJ structural (HVHZ Florida, custom uplift) from real PE engineering, not generated form output
- Vetted PE network personally reviewed by Ryan Gittens, PE. Engineer is reachable inside the project, not via outsourced ticket
The same workspace whether you design it yourself or hand it to a vetted PE on the network.
Screenshot pending
The workflow shift
One step does the same job, or fewer.
Aurora Solar
Designexportsend to Lyra / PEwaitreviseresend
Solar Design Lab
Designcheckstampfile
You don't need another design tool. You need the system that finishes the job. Including the calcs, the stamp, and the tough jurisdictions.
Try it on your next planset. No card required.