Release notes

What's new

• Sign in through your browser. SolarLayout no longer asks for a pasted license key. The first launch on a new machine opens your browser to solarlayout.app, you sign in or create your account there, and the desktop app picks up automatically. See How sign-in works.
• Create-account button in the desktop app. New users can now start straight from the desktop welcome screen — no separate trip to the marketing site to sign up first.
• Seamless migration from v0.2.x. If you've been using v0.2.x with a license key, the first launch of v0.3.0 shows a one-time welcome-back screen and walks you through signing in. Your existing license key is matched to your account automatically; your projects, history, and remaining calcs carry across untouched. See the Migration Guide.

What's improved

• No more typing or pasting keys. Sign-in is one click in the desktop app and a few clicks in your browser.
• Account switching is now first-class. Sign out from the top-right user menu, sign back in with a different account, and the app reloads against the new identity. Useful for users who juggle a personal account and a company account on the same laptop.
• Faster recovery from a stale session. If your sign-in expires while the app is running, the next request triggers a silent refresh in the background; you stay where you were.

What's fixed

• The desktop app no longer asks you to re-enter credentials when switching networks (e.g. office Wi-Fi to mobile hotspot).
• Sign-in errors now show clear messages instead of the previous generic "validation failed".

Heads-up on terminology

The phrase "license key" now refers to the internal record on your account, not something you ever paste in the app. If you saw a license key in v0.2.x's welcome email, you don't need it any more.

The first public release of SolarLayout.

What's in this release

• Tauri desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux (DMG, MSI / NSIS, AppImage / DEB).
• KMZ-in / layout-out workflow — start a project from a boundary KMZ via + New project, click Generate, get a finished plant layout. Typical wall-clock under a minute for single-plot sites up to ~100 acres; multi-plot or very large projects take longer.
• Multi-plot projects — when your KMZ contains more than one outer polygon, SolarLayout designs each plot in parallel with per-plot progress shown on the canvas (queued → running → done).
• 25-year energy yield — annual energy plus P50, P75, and P90 probabilistic yields, monthly breakdown, and the full 25-year degradation curve. P90 is the conservative / lender-case number.
• Bifacial module support — turn on bifacial in the Module section of the Inspector; configure bifaciality factor and ground albedo.
• PVGIS weather data included by default; custom hourly CSV upload supported for bankable submissions.
• PAN files (modules) and OND files (inverters) — import any manufacturer's .PAN or .OND spec into your resource library, or start from the SolarLayout catalog.
• AC cable trench calculation (Pro) — toggle on in the Inspector to size and route the AC cable trench alongside the layout. Off by default.
• Exports — PDF report, KMZ, DXF (AutoCAD-compatible), and 15-minute interval simulation CSV.
• License-key activation — one key activates the app on your machine. Manage keys and seats on solarlayout.app. (Note: replaced by browser sign-in in v0.3.0 — see above.)