What it takes to get a design onto site is a georeferenced drawing, not a screenshot. SolarSimPro produces a scaled setting-out plan straight from the layout model — with title block, coordinate tables, table blocks and analysis layers — ready to open in CAD.
Border, title block, north arrow and scale. The scale is chosen automatically from standard steps (1:500 … 1:5000) according to the size of the site.
Site corner points and the setback ring are listed with point numbers in Easting and Northing columns.
Each table type as its own block and layer, with arrangement, width × length, quantity and module count given as a table.
Slope and aspect colour fills, contours with elevation labels, and steep-slope, valley and ridge masks — each on its own layer.
A georeferenced image of the site is placed beneath the drawing; the PNG and its world file are included in the package.
Coordinate schedules and the DC capacity summary as CSV, and the three-dimensional project as KMZ, all in the same package.
Setting-out drawings are normally required in a national projected coordinate system. SolarSimPro determines the appropriate zone and central meridian automatically from the project location; the Turkish national system TUREF / TM 3° zone (EPSG:5253–5256) and ED50 / UTM 6° are supported. The drawing is written with the CAD X axis as Easting and the Y axis as Northing; the system, zone, central meridian and datum are stated explicitly in the title block and in an information file included in the package.
2D output flattens all geometry to the plan plane: a clean, small file that is correct for setting out. 3D output the tables sit at their true elevations and the module surfaces are on a separate layer (switched off by default). The three-dimensional version is used to see level differences on sloping ground or to assess cut and fill.
The drawing can be exported in three ways:
Layer colours are chosen so the drawing reads both on white paper and on a dark CAD screen; text is written with colour codes that take automatic contrast against the background.
Once the layout is complete, exporting takes a single dialog.
Whether a setting-out plan is usable on site depends on whether its contents are separated into layers. A drawing with everything on one layer may look right as a picture, but you cannot work on it: you cannot isolate the control points, hide the modules temporarily, or plot the setback on its own.
SolarSimPro output arrives in these layer groups: the setting-out frame and title block; site corner coordinates and point markers; setback and setback points; table blocks (with their arrangement type, for example a 2×13 module table) and module surfaces; obstacles; the satellite image underlay; on the rooftop side, roof edges, walls and roof corner coordinates; and on the ground-mounted side, slope, aspect, the north–south slope component, contours (with major contours and elevation labels on separate layers), steep slopes, drainage/valley and knoll/ridge layers, plus the analysis legend.
Layer colours are set so they can be read on screen. Dark true colours chosen for printing disappear against a black AutoCAD background, so the output uses colour indices that let the application pick automatically against the background. When the interface language is English, layer names are written in English too (SETTING-OUT, SITE-COORD, SETBACK, MODULE-SURFACE, ANALYSIS-SLOPE…), so the drawing can be shared with a team abroad.
A setting-out plan does not just show the modules; it puts them in their real position on site. The drawing coordinates are therefore projected coordinates: in CAD, X corresponds to Easting and Y to Northing, and that fact is written into the title block.
The coordinate system is chosen to suit the project location — for example TUREF/TM39 (EPSG:5257) or ED50/UTM Zone 35K (EPSG:23035). The title block carries the EPSG code, the zone width and the central meridian together, along with the scale and date. Without those three, a coordinate schedule is open to interpretation: the same numbers can land hundreds of metres away in a different zone.
Coordinate values are never touched afterwards. Adjustments made to the output move only decorative blocks — tables, the title block, the analysis sheet — while geometry and coordinates are preserved. Keeping the georeferencing intact is the only guarantee that the drawing lands correctly when overlaid on your own project file.
Both are the same drawing; the difference is in how it travels. DXF is an open, text-based interchange format: almost every CAD package reads it, the risk of version mismatch is low, and the file is large. DWG is binary: smaller, and opens natively in AutoCAD and its derivatives.
A practical rule: if you are sending the drawing to someone else, or you do not know which software they use, send DXF; if you are overlaying it on your own AutoCAD project file, take DWG. The sample outputs on the guides page can be downloaded in both formats, so you can try them in your own setup.
The drawing is produced in a standard DXF version that common CAD packages open directly; no conversion is needed.
TUREF / TM 3° zone (EPSG:5253–5256, the Turkish national system) and ED50 / UTM 6° are supported. The zone and central meridian are determined automatically from the project location and written in the title block.
Yes. The site and setback coordinates are included in the package as CSV, and also appear as tables inside the drawing.
Optionally. Slope, aspect, contours and masks can be added as separate layers, and a separate DXF terrain report containing only the analysis can also be exported.
It does. The georeferenced image is placed beneath the drawing, and the PNG and its world file are in the same package.
Yes. When the interface language is English the layer names are produced in English too: SETTING-OUT, SITE-COORD, SITE-POINT, SETBACK, MODULE, MODULE-SURFACE, OBSTACLE, SATELLITE and the ANALYSIS-* layers. The title block and table text inside the drawing are written in English as well, so the drawing can be shared with a team abroad.
Both are the same drawing. If you are sending it to someone else, or you do not know which software they use, DXF is the safer choice; if you are overlaying it on your own AutoCAD project file, DWG is smaller and more practical. The samples on the guides page can be downloaded in both formats.
Yes — the drawing is georeferenced. In CAD, X corresponds to Easting and Y to Northing, and the coordinate system (EPSG code, zone, central meridian) is written in the title block. Overlaid on a file in the same coordinate system, it lands in the right place.
No. Layout adjustments made to the output move only decorative blocks — tables, the title block, the analysis sheet — while geometry and coordinates are preserved. Keeping the georeferencing intact is what makes the drawing usable on site.
They do. Table blocks come on their own layer with their arrangement type (for example a 2×13 module table), and module surfaces on another. That way you can hide the modules and plot only the table layout, or only the coordinate points.
Let us produce a setting-out package on your own project and review the output together.