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Complex shapes, HVAC units, vents, and strict structural rules can make C&I rooftops challenging — but with precise 3D design solutions, these challenges turn into opportunities to maximize usable space, ensure structural safety, and unlock the full potential of every project.

C&I rooftops are anything but simple

Manually placing modules to avoid complex rooftop equipment consumes engineering hours and introduces errors.

Obstruction headaches

Leaving valuable rooftop areas unused due to poor spatial optimization and inefficient module placement algorithms.

Suboptimal capacity

Creating and configuring building footprints and roof layouts manually is time-consuming and prone to error, leading to misaligned PV arrays and costly rework throughout the design process.

Modeling complexity

Difficulty exporting final designs and structural data in a format ready for permit review and structural engineer sign-off.

Non-compliant exports

Key challenges in C&I rooftop solar design

The PVcase Roof Mount solution

<a href="http://www.pvcase.com/roof-mount">PVcase Roof Mount</a> is a specialized, AutoCAD-native solution designed to meet the specific demands of commercial and industrial (C&amp;I) solar. Maximize capacity, avoid obstructions, and ensure structural integrity by automating complex calculations to deliver layouts that balance energy output with structural compliance and safety.

Roof Mount

Why choose PVcase Roof Mount?

Leverage the true 3D modeling environment to place modules around complex rooftop equipment (HVAC, parapets) efficiently, ensuring maximum module density while maintaining safety setbacks.

Avoid project obstructions

Automate layouts on complex, multi-level roofs in minutes, achieving higher accuracy than generic 2D or basic cloud tools that struggle with complicated C&amp;I geometry.

Generate complex system layouts in minutes

Develop accurate string plans and wiring layouts in just minutes. Automation reduces manual work, minimizes errors, and keeps your electrical design phase moving forward efficiently.

Automate stringing and wiring

Produce detailed, permit-compliant documentation flexibly — including string plans and preliminary wiring layouts — that meet local authority requirements. With precise structural and electrical exports, your permitting process moves more efficiently from submission to final approval.

Generate permit-ready documentation

Quote

PV Designer at Engie

Great software! Very intuititive and easy to export

Create a world free of catastrophic climate change by expanding access to clean energy — this is a mission that has always been driving CleanChoice Energy’s efforts. However, as their commitment to solar project development grew, so did the challenges. Siting solar farms across hundreds of parcels was like solving an intricate puzzle — each piece affected by environmental constraints such as slopes, wetlands, and floodplains. Escalating costs and delays in interconnection applications, especially in markets like PJM, added another layer of complexity. With so much riding on every decision, CleanChoice Energy knew it couldn’t afford inefficiency. To stay true to the mission, CleanChoice Energy needed a more innovative, faster way to evaluate project viability and <a href="/blog/fail-fast-succeed-faster-the-developers-guide-to-streamlining-solar-projects-with-early-stage-development-software">prioritize the right opportunities</a>. That’s when the company began searching for a solution to revolutionize its approach to solar development.

Summary

<h3>Navigating the challenges of solar farm siting and interconnection</h3>Siting a solar farm is a complex endeavor. CleanChoice Energy, a mission-driven clean energy developer committed to expanding access to renewable energy, faced significant hurdles in its development process. Evaluating hundreds of parcels for viability required analyzing diverse factors such as:<ul><li>slopes</li><li>wetlands</li><li>floodplains</li><li>conservation easements</li><li>and many other hazards. </li></ul>These challenges were compounded by the growing interconnection bottlenecks in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/energy-markets/pjm-rising-costs-interconnection-reform">markets like PJM</a>, where increased queue congestion significantly raised the costs of interconnection applications. Without the right tools, CleanChoice Energy spent tens of thousands of dollars on injection studies for each new lease, with no guarantee of a successful project and wasted time. The need for a solution to streamline grid and site evaluation became critical.

Challenges

<a href="https://pvcase.com/prospect">PVcase Prospect and Capacity</a> revolutionized CleanChoice Energy’s approach to solar development, offering an all-encompassing platform to address siting and interconnection challenges:

By incorporating PVcase Prospect’s exclusive Capacity feature into its workflows, CleanChoice Energy ensured that the company not only optimized internal processes but also maintained a competitive edge by staying ahead with cutting-edge tools.<h3>Seamless integration into existing workflows</h3>According to Dan Bramley, the GIS and Siting Manager, the implementation process was surprisingly straightforward. Unlike other platforms that require extensive training, the PVcase Prospect platform and Capacity data were intuitive from day one. This ease of adoption allowed CleanChoice Energy’s team to immediately see the value and incorporate the tools into their workflows without any delay. Because of its thoughtful design, the platform eliminated the usual friction associated with onboarding new technology. Teams quickly aligned around the solution, and CleanChoice Energy’s siting and development processes became more efficient and collaborative. In addition to the straightforward implementation, CleanChoice Energy has also praised PVcase’s customer success team for their responsiveness and ability to implement requested improvements.

<h3>Delivering tangible results: speed, confidence, and efficiency</h3>Integrating PVcase Prospect and its exclusive Capacity feature revolutionized CleanChoice Energy&#039;s day-to-day operations and drove impressive results. This powerful combination brought in significant results into several aspects of the CleanChoice Energy workflows:<h4>#1 Confidence in interconnection</h4>Capacity data gave CleanChoice Energy the assurance needed to pursue target projects in areas with good interconnection potential, mitigating risk in their pipeline.<h4>#2 Faster project evaluation</h4>The ability to rapidly assess project viability and conduct due diligence for sites and acquisition portfolios reduced the time spent on preliminary evaluations, freeing resources for high-value projects.<h4>#3 Higher landowner engagement</h4>PVcase Prospect helped increase the number of site leases by providing the tools to perform targeted and data-driven outreach campaigns.In addition to these outcomes, the aesthetically pleasing data visualizations and customizable models provided presentation-ready insights that significantly improved stakeholder communication.

Results

<h3>Smarter solar development</h3>CleanChoice Energy turned a challenging, resource-intensive process into a streamlined, scalable operation by implementing PVcase Prospect and Capacity into the development team’s processes. These tools not only empowered them to make smarter, faster decisions but also aligned with their mission to maximize impact in the fight against climate change. CleanChoice Energy’s success story showcases the transformative potential of technology in renewable energy development, proving that with the right tools and insights, even the most daunting challenges can become opportunities. CleanChoice Energy stands as one of the United States&#039; few 100% clean energy retailers that both owns and operates their own assets. The company is dedicated to developing solar farms, thereby broadening access to clean energy and providing innovative pathways to farm-to-table clean energy. This commitment empowers its customers to substantially impact the fight against climate change. At its core, CleanChoice Energy envisions a world without catastrophic climate change, characterized by pure, clean air and abundant renewable energy.

Final thoughts

Lessons from the project

CleanChoice Energy stands as one of the United States' few 100% clean energy retailers that both owns and operates their own assets. The company is dedicated to developing solar farms, thereby broadening access to clean energy and providing innovative pathways to farm-to-table clean energy. This commitment empowers its customers to substantially impact the fight against climate change. At its core, CleanChoice Energy envisions a world without catastrophic climate change, characterized by pure, clean air and abundant renewable energy.

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How CleanChoice Energy and PVcase are transforming solar development with Capacity analysis

PVcase x CleanChoice Energy

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The solar photovoltaic industry continuously seeks ways to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. DC wiring, while fundamental, has traditionally been a significant source of both expense and complexity in ground-mounted solar projects due to manual, on-site methods. ENGESOLAR, a leading cable assembly solutions provider, has addressed this by leveraging PVcase software. Recognizing a market need where pre-assembled wire harnesses are standard, and driven by project developers seeking cost-effective pre-assembly solutions, ENGESOLAR set out to become a 360-degree DC wiring solution provider in the German and European markets.

Traditional DC wiring in ground-mounted solar plants, which involves connecting individual PV strings with separate cables, presented several critical challenges for ENGESOLAR and their clients:<h3>1. Time-consuming manual quoting</h3>Calculating string lengths from PDF files for project quotes was a manual, hours-long bottleneck.<h3>2. High risk of errors</h3>The manual nature of this process increased the likelihood of mistakes such as incorrect cable lengths, improper connections, and inconsistent quality control.<h3>3. Lack of integrated design capability</h3>As a new entrant into solar design, ENGESOLAR needed a robust and intuitive tool to efficiently plan ground-mounted parks.

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.engesolar.de/en/">ENGESOLAR</a> adopted PVcase Ground Mount as the cornerstone of their strategy to address these challenges and establish themselves as a comprehensive DC wiring solution provider. PVcase Ground Mount became a crucial tool for automating and optimizing the design process for DC string harnesses. This innovative feature, Harness Manager, directly tackles the shortcomings of previous, less realistic harness functionalities, often resulting in designs that failed to account for practical installation scenarios. With Harness Manager, ENGESOLAR incorporates detailed cable harnesses into its ground-mounted PV designs with unparalleled accuracy and efficiency. Ready to see how Harness Manager can transform your DC wiring designs? <a target="_blank" href="https://help.pvcase.com/hc/en-us/articles/42201294317203-Release-notes-2-55">Learn more</a>.

Solution

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.engesolar.de/en/">ENGESOLAR</a>, a brand of the Engeser Group, is a leading global provider of specialized cable assembly solutions. With a focus on innovation and quality, Engesolar recognized the need to optimize DC wiring processes within the solar photovoltaic industry. Their expertise in cable manufacturing, combined with strategic technology adoption like PVcase, enables them to deliver cutting-edge, pre-assembled DC string harnesses.

About ENGESOLAR

Solar that sees the light of day

Leveraging PVcase for DC Wiring solutions in solar PV

Leveraging PVcase for DC wiring solutions in solar PV

PVcase x Engesolar

Solar engineering evolves rapidly. Companies often find themselves at a crossroads between innovation and operational challenges. New Leaf Energy, a pioneer in solar project development across the US, found itself in this position when expanding its projects from modest 5MW sites to sprawling 450 MW installations. As an EPC developer and consulting firm, the company grappled with labor-intensive site selection, slow design iterations, and the daunting task of yield optimization. That’s when they discovered PVcase, a platform that would transform an entire solar project development workflow. The integration of PVcase Prospect, PVcase Ground Mount, and PVcase Yield revolutionized New Leaf Energy’s cumbersome, multi-week process into a twice-shorter, seamless, and data-driven operation.

Prior to PVcase, New Leaf Energy encountered critical challenges in its solar development process:

<h2>Step 1: Site selection with PVcase Prospect</h2>With <a href="/prospect">PVcase Prospect</a>, New Leaf Energy was able to import terrain data in seconds — instead of manually pulling topographic maps.“We rely on traditional site surveys for our smaller projects under 5 MW. But we needed something faster for large utility-scale projects — 50 MW and up. PVcase Prospect changed everything.”  Phil Hofmeyer, design engineering manager at New Leaf Energy.New Leaf Energy conducts detailed site surveys with 1-foot contour intervals for projects under 5 MW. Now, larger utility-scale projects exceeding 50 MW use topography data from PVcase Prospect or PVcase Ground Mount&#039;s Terrain feature. Terrain is a key initial site screening factor, enabling the company to quickly establish the correct presets. This streamlines the project configuration approach in Ground Mount’s CAD environment, simplifying the design process, while PVcase Prospect’s comprehensive toolset ensures fast grid connection, efficient landowner communication, and seamless environmental integration.

Solution: A fully integrated workflow with PVcase

<h4>The result?</h4>Projects completed 50% faster, frequent and convenient yield estimations, seamless 20-second switches from site selection to design, and fewer surprises down the road.

<h2>Step 2: Design with PVcase Ground Mount</h2>After a site successfully passes the initial screening, whether through a site survey or PVcase Prospect, New Leaf Energy seamlessly integrates the terrain and GIS data into PVcase Ground Mount within just 20 seconds. The company then kickstarts the design process with PVcase Ground Mount, which has proven to be a true game-changer.

Previously, choosing modules and racking configurations was a slow, manual process. Now, the Anza database allows the company to predefine PVcase Ground Mount settings files based on wind/snow loads, pricing, and market availability. Standardized presets enable instant, error-free module configuration for every engineer, saving countless hours of manual input.

Module and frame presets

Once the company has obtained topographical data from PVcase Prospect or a site survey, it utilizes the Terrain Mesh function. This tool is a significant time-saver, allowing the team to import data, create a terrain mesh, and build a slope table tailored to a specific racking vendor. It also ensures compliance with civil constraints across various site conditions. According to Phil Hofmeyer, the Terrain Mesh works seamlessly for early site screening without the need for detailed grading and pile settings adjustments.

Terrain Mesh

Throughout their extensive experience in constructing comprehensive and large-scale solar projects, New Leaf Energy has faced a variety of unexpected challenges. One notable instance was when a landowner revealed that certain sections of a site were under a conservation easement. But the team didn’t panic. They imported the new boundary lines into PVcase Ground Mount, automatically explored five layout scenarios, and found a solution in minutes — ensuring project viability without penalizing the landowner for each crossing of these diversion areas.

Capacity Iteration

Furthermore, the team used Capacity Iteration to quickly estimate the PV area. They determined a 7.5MWp DC system was feasible but needed to choose between fixed-tilt and single-axis tracker systems. This decision was crucial due to its impact on total production and yield, requiring consideration of landowner preferences, local regulations (like height restrictions), and civil engineering concerns.This iterative design process allowed New Leaf Energy’s project evaluation team to reassess site viability, especially after discovering additional constraints.  The ability to quickly iterate layout, ground mount design, and yield calculations fed into the valuation model, confirming the site&#039;s financial viability.Phil Hofmeyer, Design Engineering Manager at New Leaf Energy, noted that integrating PVcase&#039;s Capacity Iteration and yield export features dramatically reduced optimization time from two weeks to less than a day, enabling efficient optimization of early-stage designs and streamlining the entire process.

<h2>Step 3: Energy yield calculations with PVcase Yield</h2>Once the design was finalized, the moment of truth came — energy yield calculations. Before PVcase, this process took two weeks and required exporting files between multiple platforms. Now, New Leaf Energy smoothly integrates the data from PVcase Ground Mount into <a href="/yield">PVcase Yield</a> and the yield calculation process now takes 1-2 hours for a couple of runs per site.<h3>Here are the key highlights of the workflow:</h3><h4>Seamless integration</h4>PVcase Ground Mount integrates with PVcase Yield, significantly reducing project design time and saving days, even weeks, on individual designs.<h4>Concurrent scenario exploration</h4>Engineers can now run multiple yield models simultaneously, allowing for rapid comparison and optimization of different layouts, module types, and inverters. As Phil Hofmeyer noted, &quot;I can run 4-5 different yield models simultaneously while working on layouts,&quot; enabling real-time design iteration.<h4>Data-driven decisions</h4>PVcase Yield provides instant access to critical data, empowering New Leaf Energy to make informed decisions based on concrete insights rather than guesswork. This access to data-driven insights increases the optionality of final designs.<h4>Internal evaluation</h4>The ability to quickly generate 8760 production files rationalizes the project evaluation process and strengthens New Leaf Energy&#039;s proposals.PVcase Yield has become an indispensable tool, accelerating solar project development, increasing design optionality, and ultimately delivering more value to New Leaf Energy&#039;s customers.

Adopting PVcase fundamentally reshaped New Leaf Energy&#039;s solar development, driving across-the-board enhancements:

Results: faster, smarter, and more profitable solar project development

New Leaf Energy is one of the leading developers of renewable energy and energy storage projects in the United States—both distributed generation and utility scale. Headquartered in Lowell, MA, with employees and projects spanning the country, New Leaf Energy was formed in 2022 out of Borrego’s market-leading solar and energy storage development business, which extends back to 1980. New Leaf Energy uses PVcase Prospect, PVcase Ground Mount and PVcase Yield to streamline their operations.

About New Leaf Energy

Turn complexity into clarity and confidently move your solar project forward

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How New Leaf Energy cut solar project development time by 50% with PVcase

PVcase x New Leaf Energy

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