Elevated Structures
Design realistic elevated structures for Indian rooftops in minutes.
What are Elevated Structures?
Elevated Structures lets Indian solar installers design proposal-ready elevated mounts in minutes—draw the roof, place panels, set height and tilt, and get a complete structure with realistic legs, purlins, and rafters that looks like a real Indian rooftop.
- RCC roof: draw or trace the roof outline and get an automatic parapet boundary wall
- Elevated structure: set height, tilt, and legs, purlins, rafters will generate automatically
- Site adjustments: nudge legs around water tankers, staircase rooms, or other obstacles
- Proposal: send the design with realistic structure visuals directly from the project
Why Pros choose Elevated Structures?
Choose the elevation height and tilt angle, and OpenSolar auto-generates legs, purlins, and rafters using engineering placement rules. The structure appears inside your design and updates in real time.
The elevated structure feeds directly into your proposal. No switching to SketchUp, no exporting to AutoCAD, no rebuilding in a second tool. All-in-one platform.
The output shows visible columns on a recognisable Indian RCC terrace with parapet walls. Customers see their own rooftop, understand what’s being built, and approve faster.
What comes with Elevated Structures?
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Add rooftop objects with shading impact
Use the Objects & Trees library to add water tanks, AC units, water heaters, vents, chimneys, satellite dishes, skylights, ladders, walkways and handrails directly to your design. Resize and position objects to match the roof, with shading calculated for taller obstructions.
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RCC Quick Roof with automatic parapet wall
Draw or trace a flat roof outline and select the RCC roof type. The parapet boundary wall appears automatically so the design resembles a real Indian terrace before you place a single panel.
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Automated legs, purlins, and rafters
Set the racking style to “elevated” and the structure generates automatically – visible columns, purlins under the array, and rafters connecting the frame. No manual drawing needed.
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Customisable height and tilt
Set the structure height and tilt angle for the site. The rear leg height auto-calculates in real time as you adjust, so you can match sun direction, wind conditions, and customer preferences.
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Engineering placement logic
Legs are placed using real engineering rules – 1.8 m max span, 20–30% cantilever ratio, and increased density for coastal wind zones. The placement is structural, not cosmetic.
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Edge-case handling and manual adjustments
Nudge individual legs to avoid water tankers, manholes, staircase rooms, or other rooftop obstacles. Handle split heights and irregular panel counts without starting over.
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Optional ballast blocks
Toggle cubical ballast at the base of the structure on or off. A simple foundation option that covers the most common structural need.
How it works
Trace the roof outline and select the RCC roof type. The parapet boundary wall appears automatically, so the design looks like a real Indian terrace from the start.
Place your panels, set the racking style to “elevated,” and choose the height and tilt. Legs, purlins, and rafters generate automatically using engineering placement rules.
Nudge legs to avoid rooftop obstacles, toggle ballast on or off, review the 3D structure, and send the proposal – all without leaving the project.
Design Elevated Structures in Minutes
What the Pros have to say
FAQs
Elevated Structures is a design feature that lets Indian solar installers create proposal-ready elevated mounting structures – with visible legs, purlins, rafters, and optional ballast – directly inside OpenSolar’s design workflow. No external CAD tools needed.
Elevated Structures is designed for flat RCC (reinforced cement concrete) rooftops, which are the most common residential roof type in India. When you select the RCC roof type, a parapet boundary wall appears automatically.
Yes. You can set the structure height and tilt angle, nudge individual legs to avoid obstacles like water tankers or staircase rooms, and toggle ballast blocks on or off. The structure updates in real time as you make changes.
Legs are placed automatically using engineering rules – 1.8 m maximum span, 20–30% cantilever ratio, and increased leg density for coastal wind zones (Category C/D). You can also manually adjust leg positions after placement.
For proposal-stage elevated structure design, yes. OpenSolar generates realistic 3D structural visuals that are sufficient for customer-facing proposals. For fabrication-stage engineering drawings or PE-stamped structural reports, teams would still use dedicated engineering tools.
Yes definitely, you can add obstacles and design elevated structures around it. In case of conflict, the panels color will turn red to indicate that might not be the best placement of panels.
