How access works
Access belongs to your account and covers up to three devices, 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 up to three devices. 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.
Using more than one device
Free access is for up to three devices per account. Activate each one the same way — open the License window on that computer, click Get Free Access, and finish in the browser. On your second or third computer the activation page says "This will be device 2 of 3 on your account." and its button reads Add this device.
Every device on your account shares one access record, so a device added later shows the same end date and the same status as the others. If your access is extended, every device picks up the new date on its next check; if it ends or is revoked, it ends on every device at once.
Two limits, stated plainly:
- A device counts against your account for good. Replacing a computer does not free its place. Once three have been used, the activation page reads You have used all 3 devices — contact SolarLayout to sort it out.
- 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.