Keyur Rakholiya SketchUp is a 3D modelling program from Trimble that solar designers use to build site geometry, including roofs, trees, parapets and nearby buildings. Models can be exported, for example via DAE or 3DS files, into tools such as PVsyst for near-shading simulation. It also produces customer-facing visualisations of proposed arrays.
Key Takeaways
- SketchUp = 3D modeling for solar site visualization.
- Used for obstruction modeling and renderings.
- Less integrated than Aurora for end-to-end residential.
- Free + Pro versions; Pro for commercial use.
Where SketchUp Fits in the Solar Design Stack
SketchUp isn’t a solar design tool by itself, it’s a general 3D modeling application that solar designers repurpose for the parts of a project that off-the-shelf solar software handles poorly: irregular rooflines, mature trees, neighboring buildings, and other site-specific obstructions.
A designer builds the physical scene in SketchUp first, then hands that geometry off to a dedicated shading analysis workflow or a yield tool such as PVsyst to turn the 3D model into an actual energy production estimate.
For straightforward residential roofs, most teams skip this step entirely and stay inside an all-in-one platform like Aurora Solar, which models obstructions automatically from satellite and LiDAR data. SketchUp earns its place in the stack on the harder sites, the ones where automated obstruction detection isn’t precise enough and someone needs to model the shading geometry by hand.
Related Reading
For a broader look at how SketchUp stacks up against AI-driven modeling and drone-based capture, see our comparison in 3D Solar Design Software in 2026: AI vs SketchUp vs Drone.
If the goal is turning that 3D geometry into a bankable energy number, Advanced PVsyst Analysis: How Accurate Yield Predictions Save Millions covers how shading inputs affect yield accuracy, and our Best Solar Design Software in 2026 roundup places SketchUp in context against full residential platforms like Aurora and HelioScope.
Teams evaluating whether they need manual 3D modeling at all can also compare approaches in SurgePV’s shadow analysis software, which automates much of the obstruction work that SketchUp otherwise requires by hand.
Disclosure: SurgePV is a Heaven Designs group company.
Frequently Asked Questions
3 commonly searched questions about SketchUp for Solar.
Is SketchUp a full solar design platform like Aurora or HelioScope?
Is SketchUp free for solar projects?
Can a SketchUp model be imported into PVsyst?
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