Best Solar Design Software in India (2026): SolarDraft vs Arka360 vs SolarLadder vs Reslink vs SurgePV

The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana target of rooftop solar on 1 crore homes has made residential solar one of the fastest-growing markets in India. For EPCs, that means more leads — and more pressure to quote, design and close quickly. The right solar design software is now the difference between winning the customer in the first meeting and losing them to the next installer.

In this guide we compare the five tools Indian EPCs ask us about most: SolarDraft, Arka360, SolarLadder, Reslink and SurgePV. We cover pricing, 3D design, mobile access, CRM, drawings, reports and who each tool is best for.

Quick verdict

• Best value for small & mid-size EPCs: SolarDraft — full 3D pre-sales design, drawings, reports and a mini CRM from ₹20,000/year + GST.
• Best known India design suite: Arka360 — mature design studio and proposals; India plans from ₹46,000/year + GST.
• Best for all-in-one operations: SolarLadder — CRM, project management, invoicing and O&M alongside 3D design.
• Best for monthly billing: Reslink — plans from ₹4,000/month with CRM and WhatsApp sharing.
• Best for bankable simulation: SurgePV — AI roof modelling and 8,760-hour shading; priced in US dollars per user.

What is a solar draft — and why does software matter?

A solar draft is the first layout of a PV system: the roof outline, obstructions, module placement, capacity and an early generation estimate. Every sale starts with one. Done by hand or in a slow tool, a solar draft can take a day. Done in modern solar draft software, it takes minutes — while the customer is still in front of you.

That is why most of the tools in this list now market themselves as pre-sales tools as much as design tools. The faster you can show a customer their own roof in 3D, the higher your conversion.

Pricing comparison (2026)

*USD converted at roughly ₹85–90 per dollar; the actual rupee price depends on the exchange rate and taxes. Prices from public vendor pages as of September 2026 — confirm before buying.

On published entry prices, SolarDraft's ₹23,600/year including GST is about 57% lower than Arka360's entry plan including GST (≈ ₹54,280), and about half the cost of a year of Reslink's entry plan (≈ ₹48,000). For a small EPC doing 10–20 residential projects a month, that difference often pays for a salesperson's travel for the year.

Feature-by-feature comparison

✓ = feature listed publicly. “Check” = we could not confirm it from public pages; it may still exist — ask the vendor. Competitor data as of September 2026.

1. SolarDraft — best value 3D pre-sales tool

SolarDraft is built around one idea: close the deal in the first meeting. Using the Solar Intelligence AI feature, a salesperson enters a lat-long or property name, builds the roof in 3D, places modules with one click and shares a high-quality 3D link with the customer — all from a phone or laptop.

SolarDraft's 21 features at a glance

1. Build 3D on mobile or desktop — design in the customer's living room on a phone, or at your desk.
2. Web application + Android app — the same account works on both.
3. Pricing from ₹20,000 per year + 18% GST — built for small and mid-size Indian EPCs.
4. Mini CRM — track leads, stages and follow-ups without a separate tool.
5. RCC rooftop and metal shed support — the two roof types most Indian projects use.
6. Ground-mounted installations — coming soon.
7. Auto roof detection — coming soon.
8. One-click panel fill — fill a roof with modules instantly, respecting setbacks and obstructions.
9. Stringing drawings — ready for the installation team.
10. PV layout drawings — dimensioned layouts for site and DISCOM paperwork.
11. 3D design report with energy report — one document for the customer.
12. Losses calculated while designing — see shading and system losses change as you move panels.
13. Easy to use, training included — pre-recorded video lessons for new team members.
14. Add your own panels directly — no waiting for a vendor to add your module to a database.
15. Designer, sales and admin access levels — everyone sees what they need.
16. Admin control panel — see which salesperson is working on which lead and which designer created which design.
17. Solar Intelligence AI — build a 3D design without a site visit, from lat-long or a property name.
18. 30+ obstruction types — trees, mumty (stair room), elevated roofs, water tanks, HVAC units and more.
19. High-quality 3D output, shareable by link — send a link on WhatsApp instead of a heavy file.
20. Proposal builder — turn a design into a branded proposal in minutes.
21. A pre-sales tool that closes deals — show the customer their own house in 3D in the very first meeting.

Pros

• Lowest published entry price in this comparison.
• Web + Android app; build full 3D on mobile.
• Admin control panel shows which salesperson and designer handled each lead and design.
• Add your own panels directly; 30+ obstruction types including mumty and HVAC.
• Training included with pre-recorded videos.

Cons

• Ground-mounted design and auto roof detection are still coming soon.
• The CRM is a mini CRM — larger EPCs with complex O&M workflows may want a dedicated CRM alongside it.

Best for: residential and commercial rooftop EPCs, PM Surya Ghar installers and sales teams that want a fast, affordable solar draft tool.

2. Arka360

Arka360 (formerly The Solar Labs) is a Bengaluru-built platform and one of the best-known names among Indian installers. Its Design Studio covers 3D modelling, energy simulation and an instant proposal generator, with lead management and CAD DXF exports. Published India plans are ₹46,000, ₹70,000 and ₹1,00,000 per year plus 18% GST.

Best for: EPCs that want an established design suite and are comfortable with a higher annual budget. Read our full SolarDraft vs Arka360 comparison →

3. SolarLadder

SolarLadder positions itself as a one-point solution for Indian installers: CRM, 3D design, proposals, tasks, invoicing, project management, an automated bill of quantities, a remote monitoring dashboard and an O&M module. Pricing was not published on the pages we checked.

Best for: EPCs that want to run the whole business — sales to maintenance — in one platform. Read SolarDraft vs SolarLadder →

4. Reslink

Reslink offers rooftop tracing on satellite imagery, auto and manual panel placement, 3D shadow simulation, generation estimates, BOM, PDF proposals shared via WhatsApp, and a CRM, plus an Android app. Plans start at ₹4,000/month, with a Pro plan at ₹15,000/month and ground-mount design in its Premium plan.

Best for: teams that prefer monthly billing and need ground-mount design today. Read SolarDraft vs Reslink vs SurgePV →

5. SurgePV

SurgePV focuses on engineering depth: AI 3D roof modelling, an AI design assistant, 8,760-hour shading analysis, bankable yield reports, SLD auto-generation, BOQ, DXF/DWG export and a database of 70,000+ modules. It is priced per user per year in US dollars — from $1,299 to $1,899 depending on team size.

Best for: larger commercial and industrial teams that need bankable reports and can budget per seat.

How to choose: 7-point checklist

1. Budget per year — including GST and the number of users you need.
2. Where you design — in the office, or on a phone in front of the customer?
3. Roof types — RCC and metal sheds cover most Indian rooftops; do you also need ground mounts today?
4. Drawings you must deliver — stringing, PV layout, SLD, BOQ.
5. Team structure — do you need separate designer, sales and admin roles and a control panel?
6. CRM depth — a mini CRM for leads, or full project and O&M management?
7. Training — how quickly can a new salesperson become productive?

Our recommendation

If you are a residential or commercial rooftop EPC in India and your biggest challenge is converting leads quickly at a sensible cost, start with SolarDraft. Its solar draft workflow — lat-long to 3D to shareable link to proposal — is designed for exactly that, at less than half the published entry price of most alternatives.

If you need ground-mount design today, full O&M management or bankable per-hour simulations, evaluate Reslink, SolarLadder or SurgePV alongside it.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Arka360 — India pricing page
• Reslink — pricing page
• SurgePV — pricing page
• SolarLadder — CRM feature page
• SolarDraft — official website