New Zealand is the hardest developed solar market to sell into, and the reason has nothing to do with sunshine. The grid is already around 80 to 85 percent renewable, there is no national subsidy, and retail buyback rates are modest. Solar has to earn its place on retail price arbitrage alone. That puts unusual pressure on the design: an oversized array in New Zealand does not just waste money, it actively destroys the payback case.
Direct answer. The best solar design software in New Zealand for most installers is SurgePV or OpenSolar. Both handle the AS/NZS 5033 and AS/NZS 4777.2 framework New Zealand shares with Australia. The differentiator is whether you also need the single-line diagram and CAD export in the same license, which SurgePV provides and OpenSolar does not.
TL;DR
- New Zealand shares AS/NZS 5033 and AS/NZS 4777.2 with Australia, so Australian-aware tooling mostly transfers.
- There is no equivalent of the Australian STC rebate. Every dollar of system cost is the customer's dollar.
- Buyback rates are set by retailers and are modest, so self-consumption is the entire economic case.
- Connection approval runs through the local lines company, and requirements vary between them.
- Sizing discipline matters more here than anywhere. Oversizing without a battery or a load to match destroys the payback.
What New Zealand Actually Changes About Solar Design Software
The standards are trans-Tasman. AS/NZS 5033 governs PV array installation and AS/NZS 4777.2 governs inverter grid connection, the same documents Australia uses. That is genuinely helpful, because it means Australian-aware tooling, equipment libraries, and inverter compliance lists mostly apply. Electrical work must be carried out by a person registered with the Electrical Workers Registration Board and complies with the Electricity (Safety) Regulations.
There is no subsidy. Australia has small-scale technology certificates. New Zealand has nothing equivalent at national level. The consequence for design is that cost discipline is absolute, and a design tool that helps you specify precisely rather than generously is worth real money.
The grid is already clean. Because New Zealand generation is predominantly hydro, geothermal, and wind, the marginal environmental argument for rooftop solar is weaker than in coal-heavy grids. The customer conversation is financial, which pushes the design toward tightly matched self-consumption rather than maximum roof fill.
Lines companies control connection. Distribution is handled by a large number of local lines companies, and connection application requirements, export limits, and processes differ between them. There is no single national process, and a design that assumes one will hit friction.
Sizing is the design decision. With modest buyback rates, every exported kilowatt-hour is worth substantially less than every self-consumed one. The correct New Zealand array is usually smaller than the roof allows, sized against the daytime load. A design tool that models hourly self-consumption rather than annual totals is what makes that argument.
The Platforms Ranked for New Zealand
| Platform | Best for | AS/NZS awareness | Hourly self-consumption | CAD output | Price per seat per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurgePV | Design plus proposal in one license | Yes | Yes, 8,760-hour | DXF and DWG | $1,299 to $1,899 USD |
| OpenSolar | Residential volume, zero seat cost | Strong | Yes | No | $0 plus transaction fees |
| PVsyst | Commercial and funded projects | Configurable | Yes | No | ~$500 USD |
| HelioScope | Commercial rooftop layouts | Configurable | Yes | DXF only | ~$1,188 USD |
| Aurora Solar | Larger commercial-facing teams | Configurable | Yes | Limited | $1,908 to $3,108 USD |
| Pylon | Value-tier residential | Partial | Yes | No | ~$1,000 USD |
| AutoCAD | Full control of the drawing set | Manual | Not applicable | Native | ~$2,030 USD |
SurgePV produces the layout, string design against AS/NZS 4777.2 inverter windows, the single-line diagram, and editable DWG in one license. For an installer doing commercial alongside residential, that removes a second tool.
OpenSolar carries strong Australian and New Zealand market awareness, is free at the seat, and models self-consumption well. It is a sales and basic-design tool rather than an electrical design tool. See OpenSolar pricing.
PVsyst remains the yield model funders accept on New Zealand commercial projects. PVsyst price is roughly $500 per seat.
HelioScope is the fastest commercial layout engine. See HelioScope pricing.
Try the software behind this guide
Size to the load, not to the roof, with hourly modelling
SurgePV gives you 3D roof modelling, 8,760-hour shading and self-consumption, string sizing to AS/NZS 4777.2 inverter windows, single-line diagrams, and DWG export.
Book a free SurgePV demo →No credit card. 20-minute walkthrough on one of your own projects.
What a New Zealand Installation Package Has to Contain
- Array layout with module positions, orientation, and attachment detail.
- String design verified against the inverter operating window under AS/NZS 4777.2, with temperature extremes accounted for.
- Single-line diagram showing isolation, conductor sizing, and protection consistent with AS/NZS 5033.
- Lines company connection application for the specific distributor, with any export limit applied.
- Certification by an EWRB-registered electrical worker.
- Structural assessment for wind loading, which on exposed New Zealand sites is the governing case, and seismic considerations for mounting attachment.
Item 6 deserves attention. New Zealand is seismically active and wind-exposed, and mounting system specification is not a copy of an Australian job.
Pricing in New Zealand Dollars
| Stack | USD per year | Approx. NZD at 1.65 | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenSolar | $0 plus fees | Transaction-linked | Sales and basic design |
| Pylon | ~$1,000 | ~NZ$1,650 | Proposal |
| SurgePV | $1,299 to $1,899 | ~NZ$2,143 to NZ$3,133 | Full design, SLD, DWG, proposal |
| HelioScope | ~$1,188 | ~NZ$1,960 | Commercial layout and yield |
| Aurora | $1,908 to $3,108 | ~NZ$3,148 to NZ$5,128 | Sales-led stack |
Exchange rate is illustrative.
What Most New Zealand Installers Get Wrong
They size the array to the roof and hope buyback covers the surplus.
It does not. With modest retailer buyback rates, exported energy is worth a fraction of self-consumed energy, and an array sized past the daytime load pushes the marginal panel into the low-value bucket. The payback figure gets worse with every panel added past the match point. The discipline that wins in New Zealand is sizing against an hourly load profile and making the case for anything larger on the basis of a battery, an electric vehicle, or a hot water diverter, not on export income.
The second mistake is assuming the Australian playbook transfers whole. The standards do. The economics do not, because Australia has a rebate and New Zealand does not.
When Software Is Not the Answer
If commercial rooftop enquiries stall because nobody can produce a layout, a shading study, and a compliant single-line diagram quickly, that is engineering capacity rather than software.
Our solar rooftop detailed engineering design and solar 3D pre-design services cover that, and wind and seismic structural work is handled through solar civil and structural engineering with STAAD Pro report calculations. See the sample design pack.
Conclusion
- Size against an hourly load profile. Without a subsidy and with modest buyback, self-consumption is the entire case.
- Check the specific lines company rules. Connection requirements and export limits vary by distributor, and there is no national process.
- Do not copy Australian economics. The standards transfer, the STC rebate does not.
In this country series: solar software in New Zealand, best solar proposal software in New Zealand, shading analysis software in New Zealand, Pvcase review. Tool deep dives: Pvsyst review, Helioscope review.
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Disclosure and accuracy note
Commercial relationship. Heaven Designs and SurgePV are part of the same group. Treat our recommendation of SurgePV as a vendor making its own case, not an independent verdict. We have tried to describe every other product fairly, and to say plainly where a competitor is the better choice.
Pricing. All prices are indicative, compiled from public sources when this page was written. They vary by tier, region, contract term and exchange rate, and change without notice. Several vendors quote rather than publish, and some price in currencies other than the US dollar, so a converted figure moves with the exchange rate. Confirm current pricing with the vendor before you decide anything.
Trademarks and corrections. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners, and are used here for identification and comparison only. Their use does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by those companies. If anything here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
FAQ
What is the best solar design software in New Zealand? SurgePV when the license also has to produce the single-line diagram and CAD export, OpenSolar when seat cost has to be zero. Both handle the AS/NZS framework New Zealand shares with Australia.
Do New Zealand and Australia use the same solar standards? Largely yes. AS/NZS 5033 for array installation and AS/NZS 4777.2 for inverter grid connection are joint standards. The economics and the connection processes differ substantially.
Is there a solar rebate in New Zealand? No national equivalent of the Australian STC scheme. Some regional and lender-linked support exists, but the base case is that the customer pays the full system cost.
How do lines companies affect the design? Each distributor sets its own connection application process and may apply export limits. Confirm the specific requirements before finalising array size.
How much does solar design software cost in New Zealand? From NZ$0 with OpenSolar’s transaction model to roughly NZ$5,100 per user per year at Aurora’s higher tiers. Full math is in our solar design software pricing breakdown.
What about proposal software specifically? Covered in best solar proposal software in New Zealand.
Related: the Australian market shares the standards but not the economics. See best solar design software in Australia.
What about shading analysis specifically? Shading is a separate tool decision at New Zealand’s latitude and approval regime. Covered in best solar shading analysis software in New Zealand.
