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The single line diagram (SLD) is the electrical schematic for the site. It shows the supply, the main switchboard, the inverter and its MPPT inputs, the PV strings, the battery, the protection devices and the loads, and how they are wired together. It is drawn in the SLD editor, which opens from inside the Roof Design editor. It is a different drawing from the roof layout: the roof design shows where the panels go, the SLD shows how the electricity runs. The SLD editor belongs to the same external application that provides Roof Design. ArcSolar does not draw, validate or store an SLD — it holds the two proposal images and nothing else.

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Draw the diagram

Open it: in the Roof Design editor, choose Open SLD from the downloads toolbar. You can also use the standalone editor at /sld.When you open it from a roof design, it loads with the inverter you configured, its MPPT inputs, and the strings you built. If you have not configured an inverter yet, the canvas opens empty.
  1. Set the supply with the Phases buttons.
  2. Drag components from Components onto the canvas — or click one, then click where it goes.
  3. Drag between two terminals to run a cable.
  4. Select a cable to edit its route, or to rename it.
  5. Select a component to open Object properties — label it, set its model and rating, and open its INTERNAL COMPONENTS.
  6. Choose Download PDF to export the drawing.
SLD editor with the Components palette at the right listing Switchboard, Smart Gateway, Load, Protection Relay, C.O. Switch, Switch, Smart Meter, Meter Box, Generator and Label, with Download PDF in the header above it and part of the project sheet visible behind on the canvas.

Standalone design build from a synthetic roof design; the diagram is built from the roof equipment. The Components palette lists the eleven entries, from Switchboard to Legend — the list scrolls, so the last entry sits below the fold. The wider symbol catalogue is drawn inside assemblies such as a switchboard or the Smart Gateway.

Single line diagram on the project sheet: the inverter INV1 rated 8000VA with MPPT 1 and MPPT 2 over module groups PM1, PM4, PM5 and PM8, each marked 4 TOTAL, alongside GRID SUPPLY, MAIN SWITCHBOARD with its MAIN SWITCH, a meter box marked M and Loads A, B and C; the sheet's rotated rail reads 12 Example Street, Testville, Design Ref: SLD-001, Version: 0 and DRAFT.

A diagram seeded from a roof design, shown on the project sheet. The inverter keeps its project identity — INV1, 8000VA — together with its MPPT inputs and the module groups assigned to them; the switchboard carries its own internals. Crossing lines are not connections — only a dot joins conductors.

What to check
  • Every cable joins a terminal on one symbol to a terminal on another. A line that crosses another line is not a connection — only a dot is.
  • DC and AC are kept apart. An AC terminal will not accept a DC cable, and a communications or metering terminal will not accept a power cable.
  • Every circuit you need has been drawn. The editor checks what you declared; it does not know what the site actually needs.
Getting it out: Download PDF is how the diagram leaves the editor. The PDF is a real vector drawing with selectable text, not a picture, and the download is named single-line-diagram.pdf. Opening from a roof design gives you a one-page A4 landscape project sheet with PV MODULES and INVERTERS schedules. Larger drawings are exported to A3, and a drawing too big for one A3 page is split across pages. The editor also exports its drawing as SVG through its embed interface.
A4 landscape project sheet for 12 Example Street, Testville, with a PV MODULES schedule listing PM1-8, 8 × 1KOMMA5°-FullBlack-DG-01-450 at 450 W, an INVERTERS schedule listing INV1 Sungrow SG8.0RS at 8,000VA with 3 MPPTs and a 40-560V MPPT window, and a rotated rail reading Design Ref: SLD-001, Version: 0, Updated: 2026-09-16, DRAFT, Total: 3.6kWp, New: 3.6kWp and Inverter Capacity: 8kVA.

The exported A4 landscape project sheet, opened from a roof design — the record of the drawing, in the file the editor names `single-line-diagram.pdf`. Its **PV MODULES** and **INVERTERS** schedules sit below the drawing, and the rail beside it carries the address, design ref, version, date and `DRAFT` status. It is a draft of declared connectivity, not a certified drawing.

The PDF is the record of the drawing — Download PDF is how a drawing leaves the editor, and the single-line-diagram.pdf file it produces is the one you file with the job.This is a design drawing, not a certified one. It shows the connectivity you declared. It does not certify that a real switchboard is safe or correct, and it does not simulate how a manufacturer’s protection device behaves.

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ArgonixIntelligence in this workflow

Intelligence can help read a diagram and explain what a topology finding means. It cannot certify the drawing, verify the site, check protection coordination or approve an installation, and it cannot draw or amend an SLD. Any real switchboard issue needs a qualified person’s review.