Aurora Solar Design and Modeling Services

Aurora Solar is the leading residential solar design platform in the US market, combining production modeling, financial analysis, and customer-facing proposals in one integrated system. But Aurora design work is time-intensive, and residential solar installers scaling past 20 to 30 installs per month often find their in-house designers becoming the bottleneck. RIH Engineering delivers Aurora Solar design services as an outsourced Aurora Solar design partner for US solar installers, EPCs, and developers.

What you get

• Complete Aurora Solar project files with LiDAR shading, module layout, and inverter selection
• AutoDesigner-optimized layouts using Aurora's automated design engine, with manual refinement
• Bankable production simulations with detailed loss analysis
• Financial models and proposal-ready outputs for customer-facing sales conversations
• Sales proposal PDFs formatted to your branding and standards
• Permit-ready design documentation exported from Aurora
• String design and inverter matching validated for the specific site conditions
• Turnaround typically 24 to 48 hours per residential design

What we handle for you

Aurora design work has two phases: the technical design (layout, shading, production) and the customer-facing proposal preparation. Together, a single Aurora design takes 2 to 6 hours depending on site complexity. Multiply that by 30, 50, or 100 projects per month and Aurora becomes a full-time job for multiple designers.

We take the entire Aurora workflow off your plate. You send us the customer address, utility bill, and any specific customer preferences. We come back with a complete Aurora project including LiDAR shading, optimized layout, financial model, and proposal PDF ready for your sales team to present. Your in-house team focuses on customer relationships, site surveys, and installation.

The cost of doing this in-house

Residential solar installers scaling past 30 installs per month typically dedicate 1 to 3 full-time designers to Aurora work. At US loaded rates of $60,000 to $90,000 per designer per year, that's $60,000 to $270,000 in Aurora design overhead annually, before benefits, tools, or ramp time for new hires.

Then there's the sales impact. Every day a customer waits for a proposal is a day they're getting proposals from your competitors. Aurora design speed directly affects close rate. Installers with 24-hour proposal turnaround close a materially higher percentage of leads than installers with 5 to 7 day turnaround.

Why RIH Engineering is safe to try

Send us one Aurora project. We deliver it in 24 to 48 hours. You compare it against what your in-house designer would have produced. If it doesn't match your quality bar, we adjust until it does. If we can't hit your bar, you don't send us the next project.

Our dedicated resource model means named Aurora designers assigned to your account. They learn your branding, your proposal template, your customer language, and your standard equipment selections. They become predictable extension of your team, scaling up or down with your pipeline without you having to hire or fire.

Our process

1. You send us the customer address, utility bill (or load profile), preferred equipment (or request recommendation), and any specific customer requirements
2. Our Aurora designer imports the site with LiDAR shading data pulled from Aurora's database
3. AutoDesigner runs an initial optimized layout; our designer manually refines for aesthetics, setbacks, and customer preferences
4. Module and inverter selection validated against site conditions and string design requirements
5. Production simulation run with full loss analysis
6. Financial model built based on utility rate, incentives, and system cost inputs you provide
7. Sales proposal PDF generated and formatted to your branding
8. Deliverables sent for your review, typically within 24 to 48 hours

Tools and standards

Our Aurora team works in Aurora Solar (the full platform including AutoDesigner, LiDAR shading, financial modeling, and proposal generation), plus complementary tools including AutoCAD for detailed drawings and Helioscope for cross-verification of production models on commercial projects.

Client-preferred tools: Our team can be trained to use the tool preferred by the client. If your workflow depends on a specific platform, template, or drafting standard, we adapt to it rather than force you into ours.