The layout model
What happens between drawing a boundary and seeing a finished layout — the structure every SiteLayout.ai design follows.
SiteLayout.ai is solve-and-present: you draw the site boundary, the solver generates a complete layout, and you tune inputs. Even when you move equipment by hand — the E-house or locked BESS sections — you are setting a solver constraint, and the whole layout re-solves around it; nothing is ever hand-placed outside the rules. This page explains the structure every generated layout follows, so you can read a result and know why each element sits where it does.
From boundary to layout
The solver builds a layout in a fixed sequence. Each step constrains the next:
- Boundary — the polygon you draw is the site. Everything stays inside it.
- Boundary setback — equipment keeps a configurable distance from the boundary (1.5 m by default). The strip between the boundary and the setback stays clear.
- Fence and gate — a security fence runs on the boundary, with a vehicle gate whose position you control with the Gate slider. The gate always opens onto drivable ground: the perimeter road in ring mode, or a reserved apron when no roads are selected.
- Roads — with the default perimeter ring, an access road loops just inside the setback. On larger sites, interior roads divide the area into zones so every section stays within vehicle reach. See Roads, gates and access.
- Zones — the road-bounded areas that hold equipment. Zone dimensions snap to whole equipment pitches, so no half-section strips are wasted.
- BESS sections — the solver fills each zone with BESS sections: a DC cluster plus its dedicated PCS & MV skid. Which arrangement it uses is the subject of BESS section configurations.
- E-house — a single MV-collection E-house, sized by site power and anchored relative to your Point of Interconnection (POI). See E-house and grid connection.
What the solver optimizes
Capacity leads: the solver packs as much energy as the boundary allows under the spacing rules. But it evaluates many candidate layouts per solve, and capacity alone doesn't pick the winner — a layout that packs the same energy with a more balanced field, shorter cable runs to the POI, and less road area ranks higher. Regenerate cycles through the strongest distinct candidates, so each press shows a genuinely different layout, not a random reshuffle.
What you control
Every input re-solves the whole layout — the solver never patches a previous result:
| Input | What it changes |
|---|---|
| POI slider | Where the grid connection sits — anchors the E-house and orients cable runs |
| Gate slider | Where the vehicle gate sits on the fence |
| DC config | Which DC cluster sizes are allowed (see DC block configuration) |
| BESS section | Forces one specific section configuration, or leaves the choice to the solver |
| E-house | Format and placement of the MV hub — including dragging it on the map |
| Roads | Road topology: perimeter ring, drive-through, or no internal roads |
| Site details | Duration, safety distance, setback, road width, and the other spacing parameters |
| Move & lock | Drag BESS sections (and the E-house) to a position and lock them — the field re-packs around them |
Move & lock equipment
Tap any DC block or PCS & MV skid to select its whole BESS section; tap more sections to build a group. The selection can be dragged anywhere on the site, rotated freely, and locked — and like the E-house, this is a solver constraint, not manual editing: locked equipment stays exactly where you put it while the rest of the field re-packs around it, on every Regenerate. The surrounding rows keep their positions — moving a section reads as shuffling slots, not re-laying the site.
Placement follows the same drop-is-intent model as the E-house: an unrotated group settles onto the field's row lattice, and a drop that would cover a road, the E-house yard, another locked group, or cross the fence slides to the nearest clear position. Locked equipment shows a dark outline; tap it to open its toolbar — drag to move, rotate with the slider, Unlock to return it to the solver. Rules the solver can't enforce without overriding your judgment — fire distances to other units, DC-to-skid separation, fire-access reach — appear as a note in that toolbar rather than being blocked.
Report an issue
If a layout doesn't look right — overlapping equipment, an odd road path, wasted space — tap Report issue in the bottom toolbar. Describe what you see, and the layout is saved and sent to the team for review. The solver improves with every report: when a fix ships, you can re-solve the same site and see the result immediately.
Reporting is available on all plans. No sign-up is required, though signing in lets us follow up with you directly.
What the layout is for
The output is a concept layout for early-stage decisions: sizing a site, comparing parcels, anchoring a grid-connection application, or giving an EPC a starting point. It is not an engineering drawing — spacing defaults are industry-typical and configurable, and your local requirements always take precedence.