The Netherlands has the highest solar penetration per capita in Europe, flat roofs almost everywhere, and a grid that increasingly cannot take the midday peak. Those three facts change shading analysis in a way that no other market on this list shares: on a congestion-constrained connection, some of the generation a shadow removes was never going to reach the grid anyway.
Direct answer. The best solar shading analysis software in the Netherlands is PVsyst for rigour on east-west flat-roof arrays, with SurgePV where the same licence also has to produce the layout and single-line diagram. Whichever you pick, the shading model has to be run against the connection limit rather than in isolation, because netcongestie changes what a shading loss is worth.
TL;DR
- East-west flat-roof arrays are the Dutch default and self-shade bidirectionally by design.
- Grid congestion means midday generation may be curtailed, so midday shading can cost nothing. Model against the connection limit.
- The sky is heavily diffuse, so beam-only shadow models overstate the loss.
- Latitude above 52 degrees north makes winter shadows long.
- Installations are wired to NEN 1010 and connected through the regional network operator.
What the Netherlands Actually Changes About Shading Analysis
Congestion changes the value of a shadow. Large parts of the Dutch grid are constrained, and commercial connections are increasingly issued with limits on what can be fed back. On a connection capped below the array’s peak output, midday generation is being curtailed regardless. A shadow falling during a curtailed hour removes energy that was never going to be delivered, so its financial cost is zero. This is not a rounding adjustment, on a heavily constrained connection it can change which shading problems are worth solving. The only way to see it is to run the shading model and the connection limit together rather than sequentially.
East-west is the default. Dutch flat roofs are overwhelmingly east-west at low tilt, which maximises capacity and flattens the curve, and which also happens to reduce the midday peak that congestion penalises. It self-shades bidirectionally, and the pitch and tilt optimum is a genuinely different calculation from a south-facing array at the same ground coverage ratio.
The sky is diffuse. Dutch annual irradiance carries a high diffuse fraction, which means an obstruction removes less than pure shadow geometry implies. Tools that treat shading purely as beam blocking produce pessimistic Dutch numbers.
Latitude is high. Amsterdam sits above 52 degrees north, so winter shadows are long even under a dull sky, and obstruction losses concentrate in the months when generation is scarce.
The residential picture is shifting. The netting arrangement that made Dutch residential solar so attractive is being unwound, which pushes value toward self-consumption. As that happens, the timing of a shading loss starts to matter to homeowners the way it already does to commercial sites.
The 7 Platforms Ranked for the Netherlands
| Platform | Best for | East-west self-shading | Connection limit modelling | Price per seat per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PVsyst | Detailed and financed studies | Best in class | Yes, manual | ~$500 |
| SurgePV | Shading plus design and SLD | Yes, 8,760-hour | Yes | $1,299 to $1,899 |
| PV*SOL premium | 3D shading visualisation | Yes | Partial | ~€1,000+ |
| HelioScope | Fast C&I layout and shading | Yes | Partial | ~$1,188 |
| Aurora Solar | Complex roof geometry | Yes | Configurable | $1,908 to $3,108 |
| PVcase | Large ground-mount layout | Yes | Terrain-aware | Enterprise quote |
| SAM (NREL) | Sensitivity studies | Yes | Yes | Free |
PVsyst gives the most rigorous view of an east-west pitch trade and reports the shading loss separately in its loss diagram. See PVsyst price and our PVsyst loss diagram guide.
SurgePV runs 8,760-hour shading against a connection limit and carries the same model into string design, the single-line diagram, and DWG export.
PV*SOL premium is the best tool for showing a customer where the loss comes from.
Try the software behind this guide
Run shading and the connection limit in one model
SurgePV models 8,760 hours of east-west self-shading against a capped connection, so the loss you quote is the loss the customer actually pays for, then exports the drawings.
Book a free SurgePV demo →No credit card. 20-minute walkthrough on one of your own projects.
What a Dutch Shading Deliverable Has to Contain
- East-west pitch and tilt study comparing candidate combinations on yield and capacity.
- 3D obstruction scene covering rooftop plant, adjacent buildings, and vegetation.
- Hourly shading loss with monthly breakdown, winter months explicit.
- Connection limit applied, so the financial impact reflects curtailed hours rather than raw yield loss.
- Diffuse treatment stated, because beam-only models overstate Dutch losses.
- Per-string loss table identifying compromised positions.
- Self-consumption profile where the residential netting position matters to the return.
Item 4 is the Dutch-specific one and it is worth doing properly. On a congestion-constrained connection, a shading loss at noon may be free while an identical loss at nine in the morning is not, and a study reporting a single annual kWh figure cannot tell the customer which they have.
Pricing in Euro
| Stack | USD per year | Approx. EUR at 0.92 | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| PVsyst | ~$500 | ~€460 | Detailed shading and yield |
| PV*SOL premium | Quoted in EUR | ~€1,000+ | 3D shading plus workflow |
| HelioScope | ~$1,188 | ~€1,093 | C&I layout and shading |
| SurgePV | $1,299 to $1,899 | ~€1,195 to €1,747 | Shading plus full design |
| Aurora | $1,908 to $3,108 | ~€1,755 to €2,859 | Sales-grade shading plus proposal |
Exchange rate is illustrative.
What Most Dutch Installers Get Wrong
They quote shading losses that the connection was never going to accept.
On a commercial site with a capped feed-in, a meaningful share of summer midday generation is curtailed. A standard shading report counts every shaded kilowatt-hour as lost revenue, including the ones that would have been curtailed anyway. The result is bad advice at both ends: customers are told to remove obstructions or re-lay arrays to recover energy that had no value, and projects get compared on a yield figure that does not correspond to anything on the invoice. Running the shading and the connection limit in the same model fixes it and takes no extra site work.
The second mistake is applying a south-facing ground coverage ratio to an east-west array. The shading is bidirectional, the optimum tilt is lower, and the familiar number gives away either capacity or the shoulders of the day.
When Software Is Not the Answer
Dutch flat roofs are often lightweight, and the ballast an optimal pitch requires is frequently the binding constraint rather than the shading arithmetic.
Our solar civil and structural engineering team produces wind and ballast assessments delivered as STAAD Pro report calculations, with solar rooftop detailed engineering design covering the construction pack. See the sample design pack or talk to our team.
Conclusion
- Apply the connection limit before valuing shading losses. Curtailed energy has no price.
- Model east-west self-shading bidirectionally. South-facing pitch logic gives the wrong optimum.
- Use a diffuse-aware model. Beam-only geometry overstates Dutch losses.
In this country series: solar software in the Netherlands, best solar design software in the Netherlands, best solar proposal software in the Netherlands, Pvsol review. Tool deep dives: Pvcase review, Pvsyst 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 the Netherlands? PVsyst for rigour on east-west flat-roof arrays, SurgePV where the same licence also has to produce the layout and single-line diagram. Either way, run the model against the connection limit.
How does grid congestion change shading analysis? On a capped connection, midday generation is curtailed anyway, so a shadow falling in those hours costs nothing. Valuing shading losses without applying the cap overstates the financial impact.
Why are east-west arrays harder to model? Because adjacent rows shade each other in both morning and evening, and the optimum tilt and pitch interact. A ground coverage ratio taken from a south-facing design gives the wrong answer.
Does the Dutch diffuse sky matter? Yes. A high diffuse fraction means an obstruction removes less than shadow geometry alone suggests, so beam-only models produce pessimistic numbers.
Does the change to netting affect shading analysis? It shifts residential value toward self-consumption, which makes the timing of a shading loss matter to homeowners the way it already does on commercial sites. Report the loss profile, not just the annual total.
How much does solar shading analysis software cost in the Netherlands? From roughly €460 per year for PVsyst alone to €2,859 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 the Netherlands, and the method in how to do shadow analysis for solar rooftop projects.
