The UK solar software conversation usually starts with tariffs and should start with paperwork. MCS certification is what unlocks the Smart Export Guarantee for your customer, and it depends on an evidence trail that has to match the installed system. If the design tool produces output in a shape that does not feed that evidence, someone in your back office rebuilds it by hand on every single job. That cost never appears on an invoice, it does not show up in a software comparison table, and across a year it is frequently larger than the licence fee being debated. This guide covers what the UK stack actually has to do and where the time goes.
- US-first platforms reference NEC and rate structures with no UK equivalent.
- SurgePV covers design, proposals and MCS-ready output from around £1,025 per seat per year on the five-user team plan. Book a free demo.
Short version. The best solar software for a UK business in 2026 is a stack with one integrated core that produces MCS-ready output. Buy design and proposals together. Insist the output feeds your certification evidence rather than requiring a parallel rebuild. Connect a CRM when volume justifies it.
This page covers the category as a whole. For the tool-by-tool comparisons see our best solar design software UK and best solar proposal software UK guides.
See a UK job go from design to MCS-ready output
A SurgePV engineer takes one of your addresses, designs it against BS 7671 with SEG modelling, and produces the branded proposal and documentation from the same record in 20 minutes.
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The Six Categories, And Which Ones Have To Talk
| Category | What it does | How tightly it must integrate |
|---|---|---|
| Design and simulation | Layout, shading, yield, BS 7671 compliance | Core. Everything downstream derives from it |
| Proposal and quoting | Customer document, SEG modelling, payback, e-signature | Must share the design record |
| MCS and compliance | Certification evidence, G99 documentation | Should be produced from the design, not rebuilt |
| CRM and pipeline | Leads, follow-up, conversion | API connection is sufficient |
| Project execution | Scheduling, install, handover pack | Should receive the design |
| Monitoring | Performance, service, warranty | Standalone, connects to the installed base |
The practical test when evaluating any platform is simple. Ask what happens to the MCS evidence when a design changes during the sale. If the answer involves someone remembering to update a separate document, you have found the recurring cost.
What Is Genuinely UK-Specific
MCS certification and its evidence trail. Covered above, and the single strongest argument for choosing tools by their output format rather than their feature list.
SEG rates are supplier-set. There is no national export tariff. The value of an exported kilowatt-hour depends on which supplier the household is with, so an averaged assumption is wrong for most customers. This has a useful corollary: for a household on a poor SEG rate, recommending a switch can be worth more than any hardware upgrade you could sell them. Being able to model that quickly is both good advice and a credibility builder.
BS 7671 and G99. The electrical installation standard and the grid connection requirement respectively. A design produced against NEC defaults will need rework.
Roof stock. British housing is old, complex and heavily chimneyed, which makes shading analysis less optional than in markets with simpler roofs. Our solar shading analysis software guide covers why hourly module-level modelling matters on obstructed roofs.
Where UK Teams Overbuy And Underbuy
Underbought: MCS-ready output. The reliable false economy. A cheaper design tool plus manual documentation appears to save money and consumes back-office hours indefinitely.
Underbought: the design-to-proposal link. A capable design tool plus a quoting spreadsheet is cheaper until a quote goes out with a superseded layout.
Underbought: hourly shading. On British roofs with multiple chimneys and dormers, annual-average shading figures are actively misleading, and they lead to string layouts that make the problem worse than it needed to be.
Overbought: all-in-one suites bought early. A small installer needs accurate designs, credible proposals and clean certification evidence. Project execution modules can wait.
Overbought: seats for viewers. Sales staff and site crews need finished documents, which is not the same as a licence.
Stop rebuilding MCS evidence by hand
SurgePV produces BS 7671 references, G99 documentation and AutoCAD DXF and DWG exports from the same record as the design, so certification evidence follows the work instead of duplicating it.
Book a Free Demo20 minutes · Bring a real project · No credit card
The Platforms UK Businesses Should Evaluate
1. SurgePV, the integrated core
Design and proposals from one record, with BS 7671 code references, SEG tariff modelling by supplier, G99 documentation, MCS-ready output, AutoCAD DXF and DWG export, 8,760-hour module-level shading and white-label proposals with e-signature. From around £1,025 per seat per year on the five-user team plan.
2. OpenSolar
Free with a genuine UK footprint and a presentable customer document. Trails on bankable yield reporting and code depth. See our OpenSolar alternative comparison.
3. PVsyst
The bankable simulation reference, frequently named by lenders on commercial and ground-mount work. No proposal layer and no UK regulatory logic. See our PVsyst alternative review.
4. HelioScope
Capable browser-based engineering for commercial rooftops. No proposal layer and no MCS or SEG handling. Our HelioScope alternative guide covers the trade-offs.
5. Aurora Solar
Strong residential design built around US net metering and US incentives. Capable software, structurally poor UK fit. See our Aurora Solar alternative comparison.
6. Spreadsheets plus a yield tool
Still common in smaller UK practices, and the usual home of an averaged SEG rate applied to every customer.
UK Solar Software Stack Comparison
| Capability | SurgePV | OpenSolar | PVsyst | HelioScope | Aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design and simulation | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proposal from design record | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| BS 7671 references | Yes | Partial | Manual | No | No |
| SEG modelling by supplier | Yes | Partial | Manual | No | No |
| G99 documentation | Yes | Partial | No | No | No |
| MCS-ready output | Yes | Partial | No | No | No |
| Hourly module-level shading | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DXF and DWG export | Yes | No | Partial | Partial | Partial |
Worked Example: Where The Back-Office Hours Actually Go
An illustrative breakdown, not a specific customer measurement. A UK installer completing several residential jobs a week, tracking where non-installation time is spent per job.
| Task | With a disconnected stack | With an integrated core |
|---|---|---|
| Design the system | Once | Once |
| Retype the design into a quote | Every job | Not required |
| Confirm the customer’s SEG supplier and rate | Manual lookup | In the model |
| Rebuild MCS evidence from the design | Every job | Produced from the record |
| Reissue documents after a design change | Every change, manually, across files | One record updates |
| Produce DXF or DWG where required | Separate step | Export |
Four of those six rows disappear. None of them is glamorous, none appears in a feature comparison, and together they are usually the difference between a back office that scales with volume and one that becomes the bottleneck at about fifteen jobs a month.
The row worth singling out is the fifth. Design changes during a sale are normal, and in a disconnected stack every change means finding and updating each downstream document. That is where the version drift originates, and version drift between the quoted system and the certified one is a genuine MCS problem rather than a tidiness problem.
Who Should Choose What
- Choose SurgePV if you want design, proposals and MCS-ready output from one record with BS 7671 and SEG built in.
- Start with OpenSolar if you are doing a handful of simple residential jobs a month and want to spend nothing while building volume.
- Choose PVsyst where a lender names it on commercial or ground-mount work, paired with separate quoting.
- Choose HelioScope if your team is engineering-only on commercial rooftops.
- Avoid US-first platforms unless you are prepared to maintain UK compliance separately.
After signing, pipeline and follow-up sit in a CRM. QuickEstimate takes the handoff from SurgePV by API.
One record from design to certification
BS 7671 references, SEG modelling by supplier, G99 documentation, MCS-ready output, DXF and DWG export and white-label proposals from around £1,025 per seat per year.
Book a Free DemoThe Bottom Line
UK solar software should be chosen on what it outputs, not on what it can draw.
- Buy for MCS-ready output. Certification unlocks SEG for your customer and a stack that cannot produce the evidence makes you rebuild it every job.
- Model SEG by supplier. Rates are supplier-set, so an average is wrong for most households and switching advice is often worth more than hardware.
- Integrate design and proposals. Design changes are normal, and disconnected stacks are where version drift starts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What software does a UK solar company actually need?
Why does MCS shape the UK software stack so strongly?
How should SEG tariffs be modelled?
What standards does UK solar software need to reference?
How much should a UK solar business spend on software?
Do free tools work for UK installers?
Which solar software should a UK installer start with?
Nirav Dhanani CEO, Qbits Energy
Co-founder & CEO driving Qbits Energy's product strategy and growth across India.