At Virto Solar, we love visiting our long-standing partners to see how our software shapes real-world engineering. Mohammed Arif from our team recently visited the offices of 4Solar Global in Bangalore, India, to speak with Co-founder Manoj and Design Engineer Roshan.
4Solar Global has been using Virto.CAD since 2019 and was one of our very early adopters. In this interview, Manoj and Roshan share how Virto.CAD has transformed their day-to-day workflow, reduced design errors, and delivered massive cost and time savings.
1. Boosting Engineering Productivity and Eliminating Human Error
Designing large-scale utility and commercial projects with tens of thousands of PV modules leaves plenty of room for small, costly mistakes, such as skipping a module or missing a string.
Manoj points out that Virto.CAD’s built-in verification checks act as an automatic safety net:“With Virto.CAD, there are verification checks at every step, so engineers don’t make mistakes when building string layouts. Overall, we save about 40% to 50% of our design time.”
Manoj, Co-founder at 4solar Global
In addition, because AutoCAD has become the default industry standard, sharing raw DWG files with clients for final checks has eliminated endless back-and-forth email loops.
2. Engineer’s Perspective: Powerful Automation & Direct Racking APIs
As a daily user of Virto.CAD, Roshan highlights three specific features that drastically improved his workflow:
• Instant Automated Stringing: Rather than manually stringing each panel or taking days on large installations, Virto.CAD automates string layout creation in a fraction of the time.
• Smart DC & Cable Calculations: Engineers simply define the cable specs and Virto.CAD automatically calculates voltage drops and assigns the appropriate cable sizing across the layout, and generating an accurate Bill of Materials (BOM) in the final step.
• Direct Mounting Structure API Links: Instead of manually recreating layouts in external online calculators, Virto.CAD links directly with racking manufacturers. It exports the exact tile requirements, ballast positions, and PDF reports directly to DWG and site installers.
3. Faster Tender Optimizations: Cut Costs by 30% to 40%
When bidding on utility-scale ground-mount projects, running optimization studies for different tilt angles and inter-row spacing traditionally required redoing entire project layouts from scratch.
With Virto.CAD, 4Solar Global can generate and iterate layouts ten times faster than conventional methods.“In business, time saved is cost saved. By running optimization studies with Virto.CAD at a much faster pace, we save about 30% to 40% in costs on utility-scale studies.”
–Manoj
4. Advanced 3D Terrain Analysis & PVsyst Integration
For complex sites, Virto.CAD’s built-in terrain analysis tool allows engineers to import topography data and run Earthwork Cut & Fill calculations to know exactly how many cubic meters of soil must be excavated or filled.
The 3D terrain mesh can then be exported as a .pvc file directly into PVsyst, yielding far more accurate yield simulation results for terrain-influenced projects.
5. Ongoing Support & Collaborative Feedback
Beyond software capabilities, Manoj emphasized the value of Virto Solar’s customer support, highlighting responsive after sales service, tailored team onboarding, and local support in India that actively incorporates user feedback into software updates.
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4solar Global is proof of how the right software tools can boost daily design capacity, reduce engineering overhead, and ensure pinpoint accuracy across utility and commercial PV installations.