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This calculator vs. Aurora Solar
Two different shapes: Aurora Solar is an account-based platform that designs a PV system remotely from satellite and LiDAR imagery and turns that design into a sales proposal. This page is a free, private, no-account worksheet for one number — whether the price for a job you have already sized, priced by watts, roof difficulty, and electrical extras, actually clears your cost and margin.
What each tool is for
Aurora Solar is a cloud-based remote design and sales platform built specifically for solar installers — it is not a generic construction or field-service tool. It models a roof in 3D from satellite and LiDAR imagery without a site visit, lays out modules and strings, generates a single-line diagram and permit-set-style drawings, and turns that design into a financial proposal a homeowner can review, run through one account across every lead a company works, on an ongoing per-seat subscription. Aurora Solar's own site is not reachable from this session to confirm today's specific feature list, plan names, or pricing, so only its well-documented identity and category are stated here: nothing about it is invented, and no dollar figure for it appears on this page.
This calculator does none of that. It does not model a roof, generate a single-line diagram, or hold a design or lead record across jobs. It starts from a system you have already sized — module count and wattage, inverter cost, racking per module, balance-of-system cost per watt, a roof-difficulty factor, labor hours per kW, electrical and battery hours and material, permitting and interconnection, design and engineering, travel and equipment, payroll burden, overhead, and the margin you intend to keep — and turns that into the job price, the price per watt, the effective hourly rate, and the walk-away number below which the job loses money, plus a printable customer proposal with a scope and price-held date. It runs free in any browser, keeps no account, and uploads nothing you type.
| Question | Where to answer it |
|---|---|
| I need to model a roof remotely from imagery, without a site visit, and lay out modules and strings. | Aurora Solar, or a comparable remote-design platform — this calculator starts from a system size you already have, not from a roof photo. |
| Does the price for this already-sized job actually clear my cost and target margin, once roof difficulty, electrical extras, and burden are counted correctly? | This calculator — free, instant, private, no account. |
| Why does a flat dollars-per-watt quote lose money on a hard roof or a service upgrade the easy-roof quote never saw? | This calculator's own pricing walkthrough. |
| I need my whole sales team designing, proposing, and tracking leads from one shared account. | Aurora Solar — built as an ongoing, account-based platform for exactly that job. |
| Do I need to create an account or sign up to use the tool? | This calculator: no. Aurora Solar's tools are used through a paid, per-seat account. |
Most solar installers get different value from each: Aurora Solar (or a comparable platform) for turning a roof into a remote design and a customer-facing proposal across every lead, and a private calculator like this one for an instant, no-login check on whether an already-sized job's price actually clears cost and margin before the bid goes out. This page's own figures are a pricing model, not a roof design, an interconnection application, or an incentive determination.
This tool needs no account and no sign-in: it is a static page, the arithmetic runs in your browser, and once it has loaded it keeps working with the connection off.
Common questions
Should I use this calculator or Aurora Solar?
They do different jobs. Aurora Solar is a remote solar design and sales-proposal platform: it builds a 3D model of a roof from satellite and LiDAR imagery, lays out modules, generates a single-line diagram and a customer-facing financial proposal, and runs that design-to-close workflow through one account, on an ongoing per-seat subscription. This calculator does none of that. It takes the system you have already sized — module count and wattage, inverter and racking cost, balance-of-system cost per watt, a roof-difficulty factor, electrical and battery hours and material, permitting and interconnection, design and engineering, payroll burden, overhead, and the margin you intend to keep — and turns it into the job price, price per watt, and the walk-away number below which the job loses money, plus a printable customer proposal, instantly, in the browser, with no account and nothing uploaded. A solar company that needs remote roof modeling and a sales pipeline across every lead is better served by Aurora Solar or a comparable platform; an installer who wants an instant, private, correctly-estimated price for one already-designed job is in the right place here.
Is this page affiliated with Aurora Solar?
No. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Aurora Solar. Aurora Solar is a trademark of its owner, named here only to describe what this calculator is and is not.
Open the Solar PV Install Bid Calculator to price your own PV job.