Poland moved from net metering to net billing, and that single change rewrote what a shading study needs to say. Under the old arrangement every exported kilowatt-hour came back at close to full value, so total annual yield was the number that mattered. Under net billing, surplus is sold at a market rate and bought back at retail, which means when a shadow falls now matters as much as how much it removes.
Direct answer. The best solar shading analysis software in Poland is PVsyst for rigour, or SurgePV where the same licence also has to produce the layout and single-line diagram. Whichever you use, the output has to be an hourly loss profile against household or site load, not an annual kilowatt-hour figure, because net billing makes timing decide the return.
TL;DR
- Net billing means shading that removes self-consumed generation costs far more than shading that removes surplus.
- Latitude above 50 degrees north gives long winter shadows in the months of highest electricity value.
- Report an hourly loss profile against load, not a single annual figure.
- Commissioning tests follow PN-EN 62446, and the connection goes through the regional operator.
- Battery sizing depends on the shading profile, so the two calculations belong together.
What Poland Actually Changes About Shading Analysis
Net billing makes timing the variable. Under net metering, a kilowatt-hour lost at noon and a kilowatt-hour lost at eight in the morning cost the same, because both would have been banked and recovered. Under net billing they do not. Generation the household or business would have consumed itself displaces retail-priced electricity. Surplus exported to the grid earns a market rate that is typically well below retail. So a shadow that removes morning generation, when load is real, costs materially more than a shadow that removes midday surplus. A shading study that reports one annual number cannot distinguish the two and therefore cannot answer the customer’s actual question.
Latitude concentrates the loss. Warsaw sits above 52 degrees north and Gdansk above 54. Winter solar elevation at noon is low, shadows run long, and the loss lands in the months when electricity is most valuable and generation is scarcest.
Battery sizing depends on the shading profile. With net billing pushing owners toward storage, the right battery size depends on the shape of the generation curve, and shading changes that shape. A site whose shading removes the morning needs a different storage strategy from one whose shading removes the evening. Running the shading study first and sizing the battery from its output is the correct order, and it is frequently done the other way round.
Commissioning is standardised. Testing follows PN-EN 62446 and the connection is notified to the regional distribution operator. Neither prescribes a shading method, but the commissioning test is where an over-optimistic design first meets a measurement.
The stock is mixed. Polish residential ranges from detached rural houses with clear horizons and mature trees to dense urban blocks. The dominant obstruction is site-specific in a way that markets like Belgium or Singapore are not, so the model has to be built rather than assumed.
The 7 Platforms Ranked for Poland
| Platform | Best for | Hourly load-matched output | 3D obstruction scene | Price per seat per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PVsyst | Detailed and financed studies | Yes | Yes, scene builder | ~$500 |
| SurgePV | Shading plus design and SLD | Yes, 8,760-hour | Yes | $1,299 to $1,899 |
| PV*SOL premium | Self-consumption and 3D shading | Best in class | Best in class | ~€1,000+ |
| HelioScope | Commercial rooftop | Partial | Moderate | ~$1,188 |
| Aurora Solar | Complex roof geometry | Configurable | Strong, LIDAR | $1,908 to $3,108 |
| SketchUp plus Skelion | Bespoke geometry | No | Manual | ~$700 plus plugin |
| SAM (NREL) | Sensitivity and storage studies | Yes | Limited | Free |
PVsyst is the rigorous default and handles the hourly modelling that net billing analysis requires. See PVsyst price and our PVsyst loss diagram guide.
SurgePV runs 8,760-hour shading against a load profile and carries the same model into string design, the single-line diagram, and DWG export.
PV*SOL premium has the strongest self-consumption and storage modelling of the group, which is exactly the Polish question.
Try the software behind this guide
Show which hours the shadow takes, not just how many
SurgePV runs 8,760-hour shading against the site load profile, so the loss you quote reflects net billing, then carries the same model into string design and DWG export.
Book a free SurgePV demo →No credit card. 20-minute walkthrough on one of your own projects.
What a Polish Shading Deliverable Has to Contain
- 3D obstruction scene covering the building, neighbours, and vegetation at real height and distance.
- Hourly shading loss with monthly breakdown, winter months explicit.
- Loss profile against the load, separating self-consumed generation from surplus.
- Financial impact under net billing, valuing the two separately rather than at one rate.
- Battery sizing implication where the shading profile changes the storage case.
- Per-string loss table identifying compromised positions.
- Inter-row pitch derivation for ground-mount and flat roofs, against the local winter sun path.
Items 3 and 4 are the pair that make a Polish shading study useful rather than decorative. Everything else on this list is standard practice anywhere.
Pricing in Zloty
| Stack | USD per year | Approx. PLN at 4.05 | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| PVsyst | ~$500 | ~4,025 zl | Detailed shading and yield |
| HelioScope | ~$1,188 | ~4,811 zl | Commercial layout and shading |
| SurgePV | $1,299 to $1,899 | ~5,261 zl to 7,691 zl | Shading plus full design |
| Aurora | $1,908 to $3,108 | ~7,727 zl to 12,587 zl | Sales-grade shading plus proposal |
Exchange rate is illustrative. PV*SOL is quoted in euro.
What Most Polish Installers Get Wrong
They still quote shading as a single annual percentage.
That habit came from net metering, where it was the right number. Under net billing it is close to meaningless. Two sites with an identical five percent annual shading loss can have very different financial outcomes depending on whether the loss falls on generation the owner would have used or on surplus they would have exported at a market rate. Telling a customer they lose five percent, without saying which five percent, gives them no basis for deciding whether to remove a tree, move the array, or add storage.
The second mistake is sizing the battery before running the shading study. The shading determines the shape of the generation curve, and the shape determines the useful battery size. Doing it in the other order produces storage that is either oversized for a curve that never fills it or undersized for the hours it was meant to cover.
When Software Is Not the Answer
If the roof cannot carry the array, or snow loading rather than shading is the binding constraint, that is structural engineering.
Our solar civil and structural engineering team produces snow and wind assessments delivered as STAAD Pro report calculations, with solar rooftop detailed engineering design covering the construction pack. See the sample design pack.
Conclusion
- Report the loss profile, not the annual percentage. Net billing makes timing decide the value.
- Value self-consumed and exported losses separately. They are worth different amounts.
- Run shading before sizing storage. The generation curve determines the useful battery.
In this country series: solar software in Poland, best solar design software in Poland, best solar proposal software in Poland, Pvsyst review. Tool deep dives: Helioscope review, Aurora Solar 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 Poland? PVsyst for rigour, SurgePV where the same licence also has to produce the design and drawings, and PV*SOL premium where self-consumption and storage modelling is the priority.
How did net billing change shading analysis? It made timing matter. Generation the owner consumes displaces retail-priced electricity, while surplus earns a lower market rate, so a shadow removing morning load costs more than one removing midday surplus.
Is an annual shading percentage still useful? Barely. Two sites with the same annual loss can have very different economics depending on when the loss falls. Report an hourly profile against load instead.
Should the battery be sized before or after the shading study? After. Shading changes the shape of the generation curve, and the shape determines the useful storage size. Sizing first produces a battery matched to a curve that does not exist.
Does PN-EN 62446 cover shading? It covers commissioning testing rather than design modelling. No shading simulation method is prescribed, but commissioning is where an over-optimistic design first meets a measurement.
How much does solar shading analysis software cost in Poland? From roughly 4,025 zl per year for PVsyst alone to 12,587 zl 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 Poland, and the method in how to do shadow analysis for solar rooftop projects.
