Is HelioScope part of Aurora Solar?

Yes. Aurora Solar acquired Folsom Labs, the company behind HelioScope, in August 2021. HelioScope is still sold as its own product, and Aurora's residential plans do not include it. For Aurora's residential platform, see our Aurora Solar vs solarVis comparison.

Is solarVis bankable like HelioScope?

Not in the same sense, and this page will not claim it. SolarVis runs an in-house engine with cell-level and bypass-diode shading over 8760 hours, and gives P50, P90 and P99 estimates with PVGIS TMY weather data. It holds no lender designation. If your lender asks for HelioScope or PVsyst output, produce the lender file there and run the sale in solarVis.

What does solarVis do that HelioScope doesn't?

Four things. It designs projects up to 50 MW in a single design, above HelioScope's published 30 MW DC ceiling. And it offers three capabilities HelioScope's product pages do not list: a CRM with a stage-gated pipeline from offer to installation, website lead capture (the Lead Generator and the AI Sales Agent, both add-ons), and heat pump simulation and sizing.

Where does HelioScope win?

Engineering and bankability: a production estimate lenders accept, accuracy within 1% of PVsyst, single-line diagrams with combiners exported to CAD, IRR and LCOE, and single-axis trackers on Enterprise, plus PVsyst export.

Can I try solarVis without booking a demo?

Yes. Request the 7-day free trial with no credit card. Our team sets up your access, then you design real projects with the full platform. Enterprise plans start with a call with the team.

Comparison

HelioScope vs solarVis: which commercial solar software fits in 2026?

Q: Can solarVis design commercial and industrial projects?

Yes. Commercial, industrial and agricultural projects run in the same product as residential ones, on-grid, zero injection or off-grid, up to 50 MW in a single design. Every building on a site sits in one project, the 3D design models stepped roofs with adjoining sections at their own height and roof type, and flat roofs get south-facing rows or paired east-west tables with service corridors and wind edge zones kept clear. Designs cover pitched and flat roofs, ground-mounted systems and facades (BIPV), and tariffs carry demand charges and time-of-use.

Two tools, two jobs. HelioScope is Aurora's commercial design and simulation platform, built to produce a production estimate a lender accepts. SolarVis runs the whole commercial sale in one flow, on projects up to 50 MW: site model, feasibility against local tariffs, proposal and CRM pipeline. Here is the honest version, from both sides.

Book a DemoLast verified September 11, 2026

The short answer

Pick solarVis if you sell commercial solar and want the whole site in one design (every building, stepped roofs modelled in 3D, projects up to 50 MW), feasibility against local tariffs (hourly time-of-use, demand charges, net billing) for 45+ countries, and the proposal and CRM pipeline in the same product, with a 7-day free trial.
Pick HelioScope if the job is engineering and bankability: a production estimate lenders accept, accuracy within 1% of PVsyst, single-line diagrams with combiners exported to CAD, IRR and LCOE, and single-axis trackers on Enterprise.
Both cover the core: rooftop and ground-mount layouts, LiDAR-assisted site capture, automatic layout and stringing, single-line diagrams, storage, CAD (DXF) export, shading and energy simulation, and customizable proposals.

What is HelioScope?

HelioScope is a commercial solar design and simulation platform built by Folsom Labs, which Aurora Solar acquired in August 2021. Today it is "an Aurora Inc. company", sold as its own product, separate from Aurora's residential plans. At the time of the acquisition it had been used to design more than 1,200 GW of solar in over 100 countries.

Its reputation rests on simulation. HelioScope states that its production model is within 1% of PVsyst and validated by DNV, NREL and the CEC, and in October 2025 the lender Sunstone Credit recognised it as the first bankable, web-native platform for commercial solar design. Layouts cover rooftop, carport and ground mount with storage, electrical design runs from string sizing to combiners and a single-line diagram that exports to CAD, and Pro adds financial modelling with IRR and LCOE plus P90, P95 and P99 values.

It comes in three tiers: Basic for systems up to 1.25 MW DC, Pro up to 5 MW DC, and Enterprise up to 30 MW DC with single-axis trackers, PVsyst export, API and SSO. A free trial is available. The rest of this page weighs that against solarVis, where one product covers design, feasibility, proposals and the CRM pipeline.

C&I engineering · Aurora Inc.

The engineering standard for commercial layouts.

Bankable yieldWithin 1% of PVsystSLD to CADIRR and LCOETrackers (Enterprise)API (Enterprise)

Free trial

Sales platform · tariffs for 45+ countries

The whole commercial sale, in one flow.

AI roof detection3D site designUp to 50 MW per designSingle-line diagramLocal tariffsProposalsCRM

7-day free trial · no credit card

Why teams choose solarVis

Design to pipeline

The sale, not only the simulation

A commercial deal needs more than a yield figure: tariffs, a priced bill of materials, margins, a proposal and a pipeline that runs to installation. In solarVis they are one flow, from Site Modeling to a CRM that tracks every project from Offer Sent to Construction and Installation. HelioScope's sales page lists proposals, financial modelling and integrations, not a CRM or lead capture.

Up to 50 MW per design

The whole site, up to 50 MW

Every building on the site sits in one project, with Fit to LiDAR applied to all of them at once. The 3D design models stepped roofs, with adjoining sections at their own height and roof type; flat roofs get south-facing rows or paired east-west tables with service corridors and wind edge zones kept clear, and AI panel placement fills each roof to your target. One design takes projects up to 50 MW, above HelioScope's 30 MW DC ceiling on Enterprise.

Tariffs for 45+ countries

Local tariffs, built in

Tariff and regulation rules are supported for 45+ countries: hourly time-of-use by month with weekday and weekend schedules, demand charges, tiers, minimum bills, and net metering or net billing with carry-over. Battery arbitrage runs against those tariffs on on-grid designs.

Up to 80% less design time: 80%
Solar projects: 67,500+
Countries supported: 45+

Feature comparison

How we compared. We follow the order an installer sells in: access, market fit, site and roof modelling, layout and engineering, yield and feasibility, proposal and close, and pipeline and operations. SolarVis facts come from the product itself. HelioScope facts come from its own product, sales and help pages, checked on 11 September 2026 and re-checked every 90 days. Where those pages say nothing about a capability, the table says "Not listed" rather than "No", and the section below names where HelioScope is the better pick.

Capability	solarVis	HelioScope
Access
Free trial	7 days, no credit card	Yes
Single sign-on (SSO)	On Enterprise	On Enterprise
Market fit
Tariffs	Built in for 45+ countries, with demand charges and net billing	Utility Rate Editor for any location
Site and roof modelling
Site capture	AI roof detection, then Fit to LiDAR where data covers the site; DXF import	LiDAR-assisted modelling and AI obstruction detection on Pro
Project types	Commercial, industrial, agricultural and residential; on-grid, zero injection or off-grid	Commercial rooftop, carport and ground mount
Mounting types	Pitched and flat roofs, ground-mounted, facades (BIPV)	Rooftop, carport, ground; single-axis trackers on Enterprise
Layout and engineering
Largest project per design	Up to 50 MW	Up to 30 MW DC, on Enterprise
Automatic layout	AI panel placement to a target panel count, capacity, production or consumption share	Automatic layout
Automatic stringing	Yes, Full Auto and Guided, checked per MPPT	Yes, string lengths set from site temperatures
Single-line diagram	Yes, generated from the stringing with electrical checks; PDF and DXF	Yes, with combiners, exports to CAD
CAD (DXF)	Import and export	Export
Export to PVsyst	No	Yes, on Enterprise
Yield and feasibility
Energy simulation	In-house engine, cell-level and bypass-diode shading, 8760 hours, hourly Excel export	Within 1% of PVsyst, validated by DNV, NREL and CEC
Probabilistic yield	P50, P90 and P99 with PVGIS TMY data	P90, P95 and P99 on Pro
Lender acceptance	No lender designation	Bankable per Sunstone Credit (2025)
Battery modelling	Self-consumption, autonomy and arbitrage	Storage design
Heat pump simulation and sizing	Yes	Not listed
Financial metrics	Payback, savings, 20-year cash flow	IRR, LCOE and financial profiles (Pro)
Proposal and close
Proposals	26 configurable pages, view and time-spent tracking	Customizable proposal templates
Pipeline and operations
CRM and sales pipeline	Yes, customizable pipelines with stage-gated tasks	Not listed
Website lead capture	Lead Generator and AI Sales Agent (add-ons)	Not listed
API	API and integrations from the Scale plan	Direct API on Enterprise

Last verified 11 September 2026. The solarVis column comes from the product, the HelioScope column from helioscope.aurorasolar.com, its sales page and its help centre. Re-checked every 90 days.

The workflow, stage by stage

Lead generation
solarVis edge
solarVis
A Lead Generator on your own site and an AI Sales Agent trained on your website (add-on products), with every lead landing in the CRM.
HelioScope
Not part of HelioScope's listed tools.
Site model and layout
Even
solarVis
Every building on the site in one project, AI Roof Detection and Fit to LiDAR, 3D modelling of stepped roofs, then AI panel placement with flat-roof racking, service corridors and wind edge zones, on projects up to 50 MW.
HelioScope
Automatic layout for rooftop, carport and ground mount, with LiDAR-assisted modelling and AI obstruction detection on Pro, and trackers on Enterprise up to 30 MW DC.
Electrical design
HelioScope edge
solarVis
Automatic Stringing (Full Auto or Guided), checked per string, MPPT and inverter, then a single-line diagram generated from those strings, checked electrically as you draw and exported as PDF or DXF.
HelioScope
String sizing from site temperatures, wiring zones, combiners and a single-line diagram exported to CAD.
Yield and bankability
HelioScope edge
solarVis
Cell-level shading on an in-house 8760-hour engine, P50, P90 and P99 with PVGIS TMY data, and an hourly Excel export.
HelioScope
Within 1% of PVsyst, P90 to P99 on Pro, and recognised as bankable by Sunstone Credit.
Feasibility and proposal
Even
solarVis
Tariff rules for 45+ countries with demand charges and net billing, a priced BOM with margins and VAT, battery arbitrage, heat pump, and 26 proposal pages sent by email, SMS or link with view tracking.
HelioScope
Utility Rate Editor, financial profiles with IRR and LCOE, and customizable proposal templates.
After the proposal
solarVis edge
solarVis
A CRM with customizable pipelines, by default from Offer Sent to Construction and Installation, with stage-gated tasks and headquarters, team and partner permissions.
HelioScope
Integrations and an API, plus the production report as CSV.

Selling in the UK and South Africa

On a commercial site the local layer lives mostly in the tariff: time-of-use schedules, demand charges and export rules decide the payback. HelioScope sets rates up through its Utility Rate Editor. Here is what solarVis carries in both markets, and what it leaves to other tools.

Market	What solarVis covers	What it does not do
United Kingdom	MCS Performance Estimate and an MIS 3002 shade report, for Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man; the Smart Export Guarantee modelled as net billing, with default export rates for fixed and time-of-use tariffs that you edit per project to match the customer's supplier; standing, metering and capacity charges kept separate from the unit rate	DNO applications (G98 or G99), BS 7671 compliance flags, BUS grant tracking, job scheduling and invoicing
South Africa	Around 180 Eskom and municipal tariffs preloaded, from Homeflex to Megaflex and the metro residential blocks, with seasonal time-of-use and net billing; custom tariffs where a municipality is not preloaded; a battery autonomy mode with a backup reserve for outages; off-grid and zero-injection designs	SSEG registration and NERSA applications, load-shedding schedule simulation, NRS 097-2 and SANS 10142-1 documentation, rent-to-own billing

Where a row says "does not do", plan on a separate tool or a manual step.

Where HelioScope is the better pick

No tool wins everywhere, and on engineering HelioScope has earned its name. Choose it when:

The yield number has to satisfy a lender. Sunstone Credit recognised HelioScope as bankable in October 2025, and HelioScope states its model is within 1% of PVsyst, validated by DNV, NREL and the CEC. SolarVis runs its own cell-level, 8760-hour engine with P50, P90 and P99 estimates from PVGIS TMY data, but it holds no lender designation.
You deliver engineering drawings. HelioScope sizes strings from site temperatures, lays out wiring zones and combiners, and exports the single-line diagram to CAD, and Enterprise exports to PVsyst. SolarVis draws the single-line diagram from your stringing, checks it electrically and exports PDF or DXF, but the engineer sets cable and protection ratings, and it does not export to PVsyst.
Your projects run on trackers. Single-axis trackers are an Enterprise feature at HelioScope, and solarVis does not design single-axis trackers. Size is not the reason to choose HelioScope: solarVis designs projects up to 50 MW, above HelioScope's 30 MW DC ceiling.
Your finance team asks for IRR or LCOE. HelioScope's financial profiles report both. SolarVis reports payback, savings and a 20-year cash flow, but it does not compute IRR, NPV or LCOE.

Moving the sale from HelioScope to solarVis

Many commercial teams keep HelioScope for the lender file and move the sale itself. Here is the path.

Take what you need from HelioScope. Export layouts and single-line diagrams as CAD (DXF) files, and the production report as CSV.
Request your solarVis trial. Apply with no credit card. Once the team has set up your access, import contacts and leads from Excel with the sample template.
Set your project pricing once. Load Preset Cost Settings, Packages and material prices with VAT, discounts and margins, pricing per watt, per panel or per metre where it fits.
Load your tariffs. Pick your market's utility tariffs in Tariff Settings, with time-of-use schedules, demand charges and export rules.
Rebuild active sites. Import site drawings as DXF into Site Modeling or start from AI Roof Detection, model stepped roofs in 3D, let AI panel placement fill each roof, and let Automatic Stringing build the strings.
Send, track and hand over. Send proposals with view and time-spent tracking, and run each project through the pipeline to Construction and Installation.

What moves over: site drawings (DXF), contacts and leads (Excel import), material prices, packages and cost presets, tariffs, branding, margins and VAT rules.

HelioScope vs solarVis: which commercial solar software fits in 2026?

What is HelioScope?

Why teams choose solarVis

The sale, not only the simulation

The whole site, up to 50 MW

Local tariffs, built in

Feature comparison

The workflow, stage by stage

Lead generation

Site model and layout

Electrical design

Yield and bankability

Feasibility and proposal

After the proposal

Selling in the UK and South Africa

Where HelioScope is the better pick

Moving the sale from HelioScope to solarVis

See also

Frequently asked questions

See solarVis in action

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