How access works
Access belongs to your account and covers one device, not a licence file — what activation unlocks, what stays free, and the offline grace.
Access to BESS Desktop belongs to your account — the email you sign in with at solarlayout.app — and covers one device. It is not a licence file. Help ▸ License… opens the window that shows this device's status and requests access for it — there is no file to install, copy, or keep safe. The Device ID tells the server which computer is asking.
You don't need to open that window just to check status, though — the header banner always shows a small access-status chip (for example ● Active — until August 25, 2026, or ● No active access with a Get Free Access button beside it) so you can see where this device stands at a glance.
The application opens fully usable regardless of that status. Activation only matters once you ask it to run an analysis or hand you a result.
What needs this device activated
| Action | Needs activation |
|---|---|
| ▶ Simulate | Yes |
| ⚙ Optimise | Yes |
| Export PDF Report… | Yes |
| Save Project Report (Word)… | Yes |
| Export Report (TXT)… | Yes |
| Export DFR CSV… | Yes |
| Export Time-Series CSV (Dashboard Data)… | Yes |
| Export Plot (PNG)… | Yes |
| The CSV export from the Sensitivity Analysis window's Single Variable Sweep tab | Yes |
That covers every report, drawing and CSV the application can hand you, plus the two buttons that run an analysis in the first place.
What's free
None of this needs the device activated:
- Loading data, including a generation profile as a CSV
- Sensitivity Analysis…
- The plant designer
- Saving or opening a project
A free trial, then paid access
Get Free Access in the License window requests free access for your account and adds this device to it. If that access later ends, the status reads ✗ No access with the message "Your access has ended. Contact SolarLayout to purchase a licence." — contact sales@solarlayout.app to arrange paid access for your account.
A second device
Free access is for one device per account. Click Get Free Access on a second computer and the activation page reads Your access is already on another device — "Your account already uses BESS Desktop on another device, so this one cannot be added." — and activation stops there.
Two things to know:
- SolarLayout can move your access to a new computer. Write to sales@solarlayout.app with the new computer's Device ID. Once it is moved, the new computer unlocks on its own; click Refresh in the License window to see it straight away. Your end date stays the same, and the old computer loses access the next time it checks.
- A device belongs to one account. If this computer was activated under a different email, the page reads This device is already in use — sign in with that account instead, or contact SolarLayout.
Working offline
When this device can't reach the server, it keeps working under its last known status for up to 3 days before it needs to check in again.