At end of work that resulted in corporate website Free Tools section, Sopelia’s R&D area went work to analyze Solar Software sector in depth.

Around 70 professional software companies were classified in 4 categories:

1) Solar thermal systems configuration

2) Solar photovoltaic systems configuration

3) Monitoring applications

4) Complementary applications

Here are the conclusions.

Software for solar thermal systems configuration supply is very small. Its total share is only 9%.

Software for solar photovoltaic systems configuration offer, with a 43% participation, is the most extensive; followed by monitoring applications, whose total participation is 26%.

Finally, complementary applications offer (which includes facilities design, project management and financial evaluation software) participates with 22%.

The largest solar software vendors’ concentration is in California.

This is the result of two factors: it is the USA state with further renewable energies development promotion policies and the most developed place in information technology sector.

In North American market, are offered applications that cover the entire distributed generation PV systems value chain.

Software for: potential customers identification, customer relationship management (CRM), proposal generation and system design, investment financial risk management, operation and energy management.

Providers located outside United States focus almost exclusively on large-scale solar systems.

Something that caught our attention with force is the little or null response capacity of many suppliers.

The only communication ways is a web form or a phone that does not work and after 2 months of survey, we didn´t get answer to our questions in 22% of companies.

This is an aspect to consider when buying software, since technical support is a key factor in this product.

Solar Software sector will open Strategic Partners section of this blog in 2018.

This new section will include suppliers who have incorporated the Latin American market into their business plans and who have assigned resources to provide reliable products and good customer service.

In Solar Software sector, the news is not very encouraging.

Despite being one of the regions with highest potential and currently with the highest levels of renewable energy investment, very few companies have focused on Latin American market.

The vast majority have not updated their solutions to adapt to this market and do not have the operational capacity to provide adequate after-sales service.

Companies that take the initiative will acquire a dominant position in the region.

All you need is Sun. All you need is Sopelia.