Pylon vs. PV*Sol
A Quick Summary
Pylon and PV*Sol are both used to design solar systems, but they are built for different halves of the job. PV*Sol is a simulation tool. Pylon takes the design all the way to a signed quote.
PV*Sol is desktop software from Valentin Software in Berlin, and it is very good at what it does: dynamic simulation, detailed shading analysis from a 3D model, worldwide climate data and a component database running to tens of thousands of modules, inverters and batteries. It produces a thorough engineering report as a Word or PDF document.
What it does not produce is anything you can put in front of a customer and have them sign. There is no proposal the customer can open in a browser, no e-signature, no record of who you sent it to and no half-hourly data analysis. Those steps happen somewhere else, usually in a second tool and a spreadsheet.
The practical differences are the licence and the machine. PV*Sol is rented per named user, so a second designer means a second licence, and it runs on Windows 10 or 11 only. Pylon runs in any browser, includes unlimited users and charges £4 per project with no monthly fees, so a quiet month costs you nothing.
| PV*Sol | ||
| Pricing | £4 per project
No monthly fees
| £743.60 per user per year
plus VAT, or £250.80 for three months |
| Licence model |
Pay as you go
Pay only for the projects you design
|
Rental
No longer sold as a perpetual licence
|
| Additional costs |
None
Imagery and unlimited users included
|
One licence per designer
A Windows PC for anyone who does not have one
|
| Runs on |
Any browser
Windows, macOS, tablet
|
Windows 10 or 11 only
64 bit, and a DirectX card for the 3D
|
| Proposal and signature |
Included
Web and PDF proposal, e-signature
|
Not included
Engineering report as Word or PDF
|
| GetApp "Ease of use" rating | 4.5 / 5 | – / 5 |
| Designed for | Designing, quoting and winning the job | Simulation and engineering documentation |
Pylon's Ideal Customer Checklist
- You want the design and the quote to come out of the same file, so nothing is retyped between them.
- Your team is more than one person, and you would rather not buy a licence every time it grows.
- Your designers are not all on Windows, or are not all at a desk.
- Your project volume moves month to month, and you would rather pay per project than per seat.
What can you not do in PV*Sol?
PV*Sol is a strong simulation tool, and this is not a comparison of how well each one models a roof. It is a comparison of how much of the job each one finishes.
The design is where PV*Sol stops. Sending the customer a proposal they can open and accept, collecting a signature, reading the half-hourly data analysis behind their bill, sizing the battery around it and keeping the whole pipeline in one place are all things you cannot do in PV*Sol. In Pylon they are part of the same project.
| PV*Sol | ||
| Runs in the browser Nothing to install, on any operating system | ||
| 3D shading analysis PV*Sol includes this in the premium edition only | ||
| High-resolution imagery included | ||
| Unlimited users PV*Sol licences one named user at a time | ||
| Customer-facing proposal A web and PDF proposal the customer can accept | ||
| E-signatures | ||
| Customer and pipeline management | ||
| Accounting integration Invoice from the quote, in Xero | ||
| Email marketing integration Contacts sync to Mailchimp | ||
| Field service integration Raise the install job in ServiceM8 | ||
| Finance integration Smart Ease offered inside the proposal | ||
| Half-hourly data analysis | ||
| Battery Size Advisor How big should the battery be for my customer? |
When should you choose PV*Sol, and when Pylon?
Pylon
- You want one tool from the site visit to the signed contract, not a simulation you then rebuild as a quote.
- You prefer zero commitment with Pylon’s Pay-As-You-Go pricing, paying only when you use it.
- You want your team designing on whatever machine they already have, including a Mac or a tablet on site.
- You are quoting homes and small commercial, where the speed of the quote decides the job.
PV*Sol
- You need deep simulation for its own sake, such as yield studies, unusual topologies or research work.
- Your deliverable is an engineering report rather than a customer proposal.
- You model thermal systems and heat pumps alongside PV and want them in the same simulation.
- Your designers are on Windows, the seat count is settled, and a yearly licence per person suits how you budget.
To be fair it's the best system I've used for generating quotes. They're far more professional looking, adaptable and editing is awesome.