Case Study Details
Migration from AutoCAD® to BricsCAD® for Residential SolarPV Design
Executive Summary
A U.S.based residential solar EPC migrated its design workflow from AutoCAD 2024 to BricsCAD Pro to reduce licensing expenditure and accelerate quoteturnaround times. Within three months the firm reduced average design time per 8 kW roof by 48 % and cut CADrelated OPEX by 51% while maintaining drawing quality that satisfied both utilityinterconnection and buildingpermit reviewers.
Migration Approach
| Phase | Duration | Key Deliverables |
|---|---|---|
|
1 — Environment Setup |
Week 1 |
BricsCAD installation, CTB/STB translation, workspace aligned to “AutoCAD Classic” for continuity |
|
2 — Standards Transfer |
Week 2 |
Layer schema, title blocks, sheetset templates, plot styles validated in BricsCAD |
|
3 — Process Automation |
Weeks 34 |
Development of five core AutoLISP routines (see Section 5) and Gitbased sourcecontrol workflow |
|
4 — Validation & Rollout |
Weeks 56 |
Regression testing on 25 legacy projects, staff training (8 hours), formal golive checklist |
Technical Focus: Leveraging AutoLISP in BricsCAD
BricsCAD executes AutoLISP natively, enabling the team to refactor existing AutoCAD scripts and develop new tools without the overhead of .NET or VBA. Highlights include:
| Routine | Functionality | Time Saved / Job |
|---|---|---|
|
ROOF_OUTLINE.LSP |
Consolidates roof polylines, heals gaps, converts to REGION for area reporting |
20 min |
|
PV_LAYOUT_GEN.LSP |
Autonests modules respecting setbacks; supports portrait/landscape switching |
35 min |
|
STRINGER_SCHEDULE.LSP |
Calculates string size, conductor gauge, and exports BOM to CSV |
10 min |
|
COORD_TRANSFORM.LSP |
Converts WGS84 GPS to local stateplane coordinates for permit plans |
8 min |
|
PDF_PUBLISH_BATCH.LSP |
Publishes full sheet set to vector PDF with projectID filenames |
5 min |
All LISP code is versioncontrolled, peerreviewed, and documented in a Markdown knowledge base, fostering continuous improvement.
Results After One Quarter
| KPI | PreMigration (AutoCAD) | PostMigration (BricsCAD) | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Avg. design time / 8 kW roof |
3 h 40 m |
1 h 55 m |
48 % |
|
Rework incidents / 20 jobs.LSP |
7 |
2 |
71 % |
|
Annual CAD cost / designer |
$3,250 |
$1,580 |
51 % |
|
Quotetocontract conversion |
22 % |
28 % |
+6 pp |
|
Employee toolsatisfaction (110) |
6.1 |
8.3 |
+36 % |
Payback on migration costs was achieved in under five months.
Challenges and Mitigations
| Issue | Root Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
|
Plotstyle colour drift |
CTB mappings 1019 misaligned |
Onetime CTB remap script; QA signoff |
|
Dynamicblock parameter loss |
AutoCADspecific custom grips |
Rebuilt as BricsCAD parametric blocks |
|
Designer change management |
UI differences |
Deployed familiar workspace; phased ribbon adoption over two weeks |
|
Niche plugin availability |
Two specialty tools not yet ported |
Retained single AutoCAD seat for edge cases; replicated 80 % of features via LISP |
Lessons Learned
⦁ Automate early. Even basic LISP removes repetitive tasks and builds organisational trust in the new platform.
⦁ Treat CAD assets as code. Gitbased versioning and pullrequest reviews improved script reliability.
⦁ Maintain a fallback. Keeping one AutoCAD seat reduced migration risk and aided comparisons.
⦁ Train with live projects. Adult learners absorb new workflows faster when training material matches tomorrow’s deliverables.
Forward Roadmap
⦁ Python API adoption for heavy data processing and GUI enhancements.
⦁ Automated shadeloss estimation integrating LiDAR and heliodon libraries.
⦁ Oneclick permitset generation via SheetSet Manager scripting and digital stamping.
Conclusion
The transition to BricsCAD delivered quantifiable efficiency gains and cost savings while empowering designers to extend their toolset with AutoLISP. For residential solarPV enterprises seeking scalable, costeffective CAD workflows, BricsCAD presents a pragmatic alternative to AutoCAD—with rapid ROI when coupled with disciplined scripting and changemanagement practices.
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