Indian rooftops are the most obstructed in the world. Water tanks, stair headrooms, lift machine rooms, parapets, television dishes, and a neighbouring building two metres away and a floor taller. The sun is high, which helps, but the array is surrounded by objects sitting inside its own boundary, and no horizon profile method will ever see them.
Direct answer. The best solar shading analysis software in India is PVsyst for anything financed or submitted, because its 3D near-shading scene handles the density of Indian rooftop obstruction and its output is what a lender or CEIG reviewer recognises. SurgePV covers the same 8,760-hour shading alongside the layout and single-line diagram for the approval pack.
TL;DR
- Rooftop obstruction is dense and sits inside the array boundary. Model it in 3D or do not model it.
- Water tanks and stair headrooms are the two most commonly omitted obstructions in Indian studies.
- High sun means annual obstruction losses are modest, but morning and evening losses concentrate hard.
- Soiling losses are large enough to be confused with shading in performance disputes. State both separately.
- Approval runs through the DISCOM and, above the threshold, the state electrical inspectorate.
What India Actually Changes About Shading Analysis
The obstructions are inside the array. On a typical Indian commercial or residential rooftop, the array has to work around an overhead water tank, a stair headroom, a lift machine room, plumbing, and often a parapet high enough to matter at low sun angles. These objects are surrounded by modules rather than sitting beyond them. That rules out any method based on a horizon profile or a single obstruction angle, and it means the 3D scene has to be built with real heights measured on site.
Water tanks are the classic omission. An overhead tank on a raised plinth is tall, close, and casts a moving shadow across a significant fraction of the array through the day. It is also the single object most often left out of the model, because it is easy to treat as part of the roof rather than as an obstruction. Its shadow is frequently the largest near-field loss on the roof.
High sun softens the annual figure. Across most of India the sun is high for most of the productive day, so annual obstruction losses are smaller than in temperate markets. What remains significant is the early morning and late afternoon, when the parapet and the neighbouring building reach across the array. Reporting only an annual average understates how much of the loss is concentrated.
Soiling is the confounder. Indian soiling losses are substantial and vary hugely by location and season. When actual generation falls short, shading and soiling are blamed for each other, and the argument cannot be settled unless both assumptions were stated separately in the original study. This is the single cheapest piece of professional discipline available in this market.
Approval expects a familiar document. The connection runs through the DISCOM, with the state electrical inspectorate involved above the applicable threshold, and financed projects go through a lender’s technical review. None of them prescribe a shading simulation, but all of them recognise a standard yield study, and submitting something unfamiliar adds review cycles.
The 7 Platforms Ranked for India
| Platform | Best for | 3D rooftop obstruction scene | Recognised in submissions | Price per seat per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PVsyst | Financed and submitted studies | Yes, scene builder | Yes | ~$500 |
| SurgePV | Shading plus design and SLD | Yes, 8,760-hour | Yes | $1,299 to $1,899 |
| HelioScope | Fast C&I layout and shading | Moderate | Partly | ~$1,188 |
| SketchUp plus Skelion | Dense bespoke rooftop geometry | Manual, unlimited | No | ~$700 plus plugin |
| PVcase | Large ground-mount layout | Terrain-aware | Yes | Enterprise quote |
| Aurora Solar | Complex roof geometry | Strong, LIDAR | Partly | $1,908 to $3,108 |
| SAM (NREL) | Sensitivity studies | Limited | Partly | Free |
PVsyst is the default for anything reviewed by a lender or an inspectorate. Its 3D near-shading scene builder is the right tool for a rooftop with a tank and a headroom in the middle of it. See PVsyst price.
SurgePV runs 8,760-hour shading and carries the same model into string design, the single-line diagram, and DWG export for the DISCOM and inspectorate pack.
SketchUp with Skelion remains genuinely useful on the most awkward rooftops, where manual modelling beats any automated approach.
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Put the water tank in the model before you quote
SurgePV runs 8,760-hour shading against tanks, headrooms, parapets, and neighbours, then carries the same model into string design, single-line diagrams, and DWG export for the DISCOM pack.
Book a free SurgePV demo →No credit card. 20-minute walkthrough on one of your own projects.
What an Indian Shading Deliverable Has to Contain
- 3D scene including every rooftop object, water tanks, stair headrooms, lift machine rooms, parapets, and plumbing, at measured height.
- Neighbouring buildings modelled at real height and distance, not estimated from a satellite view.
- Hourly shading loss with monthly breakdown.
- Morning and evening loss shown separately, since that is where the loss concentrates under a high sun.
- Soiling assumption stated separately from the shading figure.
- Per-string loss table identifying positions worth excluding or putting on separate MPPTs.
- Inter-row pitch derivation for elevated and flat-roof structures.
Item 1 needs a tape and a site visit. Estimating the height of an overhead tank from a photograph is where most of the error in Indian shading studies comes from, and it takes ten minutes to eliminate.
Pricing in Rupees
| Stack | USD per year | Approx. INR at 87 | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| PVsyst | ~$500 | ~₹43,500 | Financed and submitted shading studies |
| HelioScope | ~$1,188 | ~₹1,03,356 | C&I layout and shading |
| SurgePV | $1,299 to $1,899 | ~₹1,13,013 to ₹1,65,213 | Shading plus full design |
| Aurora | $1,908 to $3,108 | ~₹1,65,996 to ₹2,70,396 | Sales-grade shading plus proposal |
Exchange rate is illustrative. For most Indian EPCs the cheaper question is whether to license a seat at all or to outsource the study.
What Most Indian EPCs Get Wrong
They leave the water tank out.
It is the most common defect in Indian shading studies and it is not subtle. An overhead tank on a plinth is often three or four metres above the roof, sitting in or beside the array, sweeping a shadow across a meaningful share of the modules through the morning or afternoon. Studies routinely model the parapet and the neighbour and treat the tank as part of the building rather than as an obstruction. The result is a yield figure that the site cannot meet, discovered in the first month of operation.
The second mistake is having no separate soiling assumption. When the plant underperforms, the developer says shading and the EPC says cleaning, and neither can prove it because the original document had one combined derating. Two lines in the study prevent the entire argument.
When Software Is Not the Answer
If the roof cannot carry the structure, or the site needs a stamped drawing set for the inspectorate, that is engineering rather than modelling.
Our solar civil and structural engineering team produces structural assessments delivered as STAAD Pro report calculations, with solar rooftop detailed engineering design covering the construction and approval pack. See the sample design pack or talk to our team.
Conclusion
- Measure and model every rooftop object. The tank and the headroom are inside the array, not beyond it.
- Report morning and evening losses separately. High sun hides the concentration in an annual average.
- State soiling and shading as separate assumptions. It is what makes a later shortfall diagnosable.
In this country series: solar software in India, best solar proposal software in India, Pvcase review, Pvsyst review. Tool deep dives: 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 shading analysis software in India? PVsyst for anything financed or submitted, because its 3D near-shading scene handles dense rooftop obstruction and reviewers recognise its output. SurgePV where the same licence also has to produce the layout and single-line diagram.
Why do Indian rooftops need 3D shading modelling? Because the obstructions sit inside the array boundary. Water tanks, stair headrooms, and lift machine rooms are surrounded by modules, and no horizon profile or single-angle method can represent them.
What gets left out of Indian shading studies most often? The overhead water tank. It is tall, close, and frequently treated as part of the building rather than as an obstruction, and its shadow is often the largest near-field loss on the roof.
Does shading matter less in India because the sun is high? The annual figure is smaller than in temperate markets, yes. The loss concentrates in the morning and evening instead, which an annual average conceals.
Why state soiling separately from shading? Because Indian soiling losses are large, and when generation falls short the two get blamed for each other. Separate assumptions in the original study make the shortfall diagnosable.
How much does solar shading analysis software cost in India? From roughly ₹43,500 per year for PVsyst alone to ₹2,70,000 for Aurora’s higher tiers. Full math is in our solar design software pricing breakdown.
Related: the wider tool decision is in best solar design software in India, and the method in how to do shadow analysis for solar rooftop projects.
