OpenSolar
Accelerating Solar Adoption with Free Software
What OpenSolar does
OpenSolar is a free, cloud-based platform that helps solar professionals design, sell, and manage solar and battery storage projects. It combines 3D solar design, accurate production modeling, interactive proposal generation, and basic CRM tools into a single operating system.
Where OpenSolar falls short
While OpenSolar includes an embeddable lead generation tool, it is not a full-fledged marketing CRM or website builder. Solar companies still need a dedicated website and broader marketing stack to drive traffic, rank for local SEO, and execute complex top-of-funnel nurturing sequences.
How we set OpenSolar up
When a homeowner visits a solar installer's website, they interact with an embedded OpenSolar AI Lead Gen widget. They enter their address and average energy bill. The widget automatically runs a preliminary design using OpenSolar's engine and instantly presents the homeowner with a projected savings summary. Simultaneously, the lead's contact info and initial project details are securely pushed into the installer's OpenSolar CRM, alerting the sales team to follow up with a highly qualified prospect.
Integration method: rest-api
What OpenSolar already owns
OpenSolar is a free, cloud-based platform that helps solar professionals design, sell, and manage solar and battery storage projects. It combines 3D solar design, accurate production modeling, interactive proposal generation, and basic CRM tools into a single operating system.
Primary users: Solar installers, sales representatives, PV engineers, and operations managers
Typical fit: Small to mid-size residential solar companies up to enterprise-level solar groups
Core functions
- Generate 3D solar and battery system designs and layouts
- Calculate energy production and local utility savings
- Create interactive, customizable customer proposals
- Process e-signatures and integrate with financing partners
- Manage project workflows, hardware ordering, and CRM tasks
- Automate post-sale processes like permitting and invoicing
What still has to happen around OpenSolar
While OpenSolar includes an embeddable lead generation tool, it is not a full-fledged marketing CRM or website builder. Solar companies still need a dedicated website and broader marketing stack to drive traffic, rank for local SEO, and execute complex top-of-funnel nurturing sequences.
It does not replace a dedicated CMS (like WordPress or Webflow) for SEO and comprehensive website content.
Marketing automation and complex email drip campaigns for early-stage leads require an external marketing CRM.
Deep cross-domain tracking can be difficult when routing users from the main website into OpenSolar's embedded or hosted tools.
Highly complex pre-qualification funnels (beyond standard address and bill input) require custom web development via API.
Website and CRM integration surface
Native website path
OpenSolar provides a native 'Lead Capture Form' snippet and an 'AI Lead Gen' tool that can be embedded directly into a website using an iframe or custom HTML script. This allows homeowners to enter their address and energy usage to automatically generate a preliminary system design and drop the lead directly into the OpenSolar CRM.
Developer surface
- Public API
- Yes
- API style
- rest-v1
- Auth
- api-key
- Webhooks
- Yes
- Rate limits
- Documented
- Sandbox
- Yes
API access is subject to strict per-user and per-organization rate limits. Exceeding limits will result in rejected calls.
Integration patterns that make sense
Native First
FitWhen a solar company wants a fast, frictionless way for homeowners to request quotes or view preliminary solar designs directly on their website without custom coding.
The website administrator embeds the OpenSolar Lead Capture Form or AI Lead Gen script into their CMS. When a visitor submits their details, the data flows seamlessly into OpenSolar's CRM as a new contact and project.
Api First
FitWhen enterprise solar businesses need to connect their proprietary CRM, custom quoting engines, or ERP systems directly to OpenSolar's design and pricing logic.
A custom integration authenticates with the OpenSolar API to create projects, sync design and hardware data, and trigger workflows (like sold jobs or incentive claims) automatically between platforms.
Hybrid
LimitedNot generally recommended due to the complexity of keeping a custom marketing CRM in perfect sync with OpenSolar's deep project models.
Requires heavy custom API development to maintain bidirectional sync between a primary CRM and OpenSolar.
Data objects your stack has to preserve
Create
Project, Contact, System, Payment
Read
Project, Design, Pricing, Hardware, Workflow, Contact
Update
Project, System, Contact
Who usually fits an OpenSolar-centered website rebuild
Use this section to decide when OpenSolar's iframe path is enough and when the website should qualify harder before it hands off through the REST API.
Best fit
- - Teams already running OpenSolar as the system of record
- - Operators who need stronger qualification before data reaches OpenSolar
- - Businesses that need a public site and intake flow shaped around field service demand
What operators complain about
- We struggle with the user interface, which feels a bit outdated and clunky compared to more modern SaaS platforms.
- Our team gets frustrated when missing pricing or incentive data causes ambiguous errors like 'Float and NoneType' that halt our ability to generate proposals.
- We lose time dealing with the fact that the design tool doesn't always automatically catch complex custom roof structures, requiring our engineers to manually correct the 3D models.
- I get frustrated when software updates disrupt the mobile app in the field, making it difficult for sales reps to present live proposals to homeowners.
- We struggle to get fast answers from customer support when critical system bugs or tariff mapping issues delay our daily operations.
- We are frustrated that OpenSolar is stronger in operations than in website conversion.
Technical trust before you connect the stack
Native path
iframe
The website should only promise the OpenSolar handoff paths that are publicly documented.
Auth model
Api Key
If a custom handoff is needed, authorization into OpenSolar has to stay explicit and documented.
API surface
REST V1
OpenSolar still has to compete with Aurora Solar, Solo, Sighten while keeping the website handoff cleaner.
Auth: OpenSolar requires organizations to be on a paid API Access plan to use their developer tools. Developers authenticate requests securely using API credentials tied to their specific organization.
Data flow: Lead data captured on the website via native embeds flows directly into the OpenSolar database. For custom setups, the REST API allows deep programmatic read/write access to sync projects, system designs, and financial models.
Webhooks: OpenSolar supports webhooks to notify external systems when key events happen, such as a proposal being accepted or a project advancing to a new workflow stage.
Security: Ensure that any custom lead capture forms transmit data securely over HTTPS and that API credentials are stored strictly server-side, never exposed to the public frontend.
Also in the evaluation set
If OpenSolar is on the table, these adjacent systems usually come up too. Use the CRM Scorecard to decide whether you need a horizontal CRM, a vertical operating system, or a cleaner connection between both.
OpenSolar by industry
How OpenSolar gets configured for specific operating patterns.
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