Aurora Solar, founded in 2014, produces a solar design software for professionals in the solar industry. It is an end-to-end solar design and sales solution that allows solar contractors to quickly and remotely design an accurate solar design for a site using satellite imagery, estimate how much energy it will produce and the resulting utility bill savings, model different financing scenarios, and develop customized sales proposals.
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The software can model commercial and residential solar systems. Key Features:
- Consumption Profile: Users can upload Green Button interval data to model customers' load profiles, or estimate their load profile throughout the year based on building characteristics.
- Accurate 3D Site Models: Site models can be drawn quickly using a tool that automatically infers the roof characteristics based on the perimeter. LIDAR and Computer Vision can be used to ensure the accuracy of the building model.
- Shading Analysis: Aurora's remote shading analysis has been validated by NREL to be comparable in accuracy to on-site shade measurements so installers can save time and cost by eliminating truck rolls. Additionally, bankable shade reports that are validated/accepted by most major rebate authorities.
- PV System Design: Aurora's database of modules, inverters, and all other components allows you to design a custom PV system of your choosing. Aurora automatically detects engineering errors such as invalid string lengths or setback violations. Alternatively, with the AutoDesigner feature, users can specify a desired energy offset percentage or bill savings target and the AutoDesigner will iterate through thousands of potential designs to find an optimal design automatically.
- Performance Simulation- Aurora has NREL-validated performance estimates and is currently the only software capable of simulating performance at a "sub-module" level, allowing more accurate modeling of designs with Module-Level Power Electronics (MLPEs) such as microinverters and DC optimizers. The system outputs a chart of estimated production for each month of the year, as well as a loss diagram indicating where production is lost.
- Pre and Post Solar Bills: With an extensive database of utility rates, as well as the ability to input custom utility rates, Aurora can accurately estimate post-solar bills for net-metered customers. It can also model income from feed-in tariffs or other incentives like SRECs.
- Financial Analysis: Analyze different financing options for the customer such as loans, leases, and PPAs, and calculate a variety of metrics such as Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) or Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for each.
- Sales Proposals: All of this data can be pulled into customizable sales proposals, with detailed visualizations of the site model and proposed design, to communicate the value to prospective solar customers.
