When it comes to building infrastructure, whether commercial or residential, it entails planning, designing, creating, testing, and supervising the lighting equipment, and power systems within the premises. The installation of lighting fixtures and power systems may include electronic components, fire and life safety systems, voice and data communication systems, or anything that has to deal with electrical wiring connections. Electrical drafters prepare electrical wiring and layouts, which are then used by the workers who install, maintain, and repair electrical wiring and equipment in power plants, manufacturing units, communication centers, or any type of building. Basically, electrical design is the workflow or plan of connecting all the electrical components.
Electrical design plans can be as simple as connecting a few light bulbs and as complex as building the power system for a huge manufacturing unit. The main purpose of preparing electrical design plans is to ensure that the entire power system in infrastructure is safe and efficient enough to keep the energy costs affordable. If you are facing flickering lights, high electricity bills, and damaged equipment or machines in your premises, then that means you are using unstable systems or manual methods to design your electrical system.
Below are some modern challenges that electrical engineers usually face while preparing an electrical system design -
Lack of attention to detail in an electrical system can cause small scale and large scale electrical damages. Thus, it requires skilled proficiency and expert assistance powered with technology to intricately plan right from inception till handing over the electrical jobs.
Precisely the best electrical design software can eliminate chaos, stress, and delays pertaining to your electrical design projects. Here we have listed the 7 best free and open source electrical design software that you can consider deploying for your business. But, before we proceed with the details of these electrical design tools, let's have a look at what exactly is an electrical design software, benefits of using it, and the features to look for while selecting one.
What Is Electrical Design Software?
The electrical design software, also known as the electrical CAD tool, helps in preparing the plans for electrical projects and reorganizing the current ones. The electrical software includes the library of symbols and the database of electrical parts and supplies, enabling electrical engineers and designers to model, document, and estimate the specifications and cost of an electrical design project. Moreover, the electrical design systems also allow you to share the electrical design plans digitally with the entire team, stakeholders, and Government authorities for required approvals.
In this era, where computers and technology are being applied for even buying groceries, if you are preparing your electrical designs using manual methods, then you are relying on incomplete data and making decisions based on guesswork. The only way out to this is using a reliable electrical design solution; otherwise, misinterpretation in your electrical designs can fail your projects, form a bad impression in front of your clients, and cause a huge reputational and financial loss to your business. Below-mentioned are some benefits of using a well-featured electrical design tool -
Benefits of Electrical Design Software:
Boosts Productivity:
Electrical design software includes a library of symbols, a user-friendly interface, access to the information about the parts suppliers, and also integrates with the other systems in your organization, helping you to prepare your electrical designs quickly. Completing the projects ahead of time by automating your electrical design plans, would help you and your team members to focus on your core business, and boost the productivity within your organization.
Saves Time & Money:
With the help of electrical design software, you have a clear understanding of the wiring, equipment, and other accessories required for your project in advance. Also, you have easily accessible information about the suppliers & vendors of the electrical parts on hand so that you can easily compare and choose the most cost-efficient materials for your project. This facilitates you in saving your time and allows you to complete your project within a predetermined budget.
Eliminates Errors:
The manual methods of designing electrical plans can make your building project prone to errors and design discrepancies. Manually managing errors in your electrical design after you’ve started your project takes an extensive amount of your time. Using the electrical design software, you can save the project and rectify the mistakes, instantly saving you from the errors occurring while actually building your electrical project.
Ensures Compliance with Industry Standards:
For electrical wiring and installation, it is highly necessary to stay compliant with the industry standards. The electrical design software helps you in staying compliant with national and international standards. Not only that, but it also allows you to predefine the client’s standards. If any, a comprehensive library of different industry standards is included in the electrical design software allowing you to submit consistent and standardized designs for your electrical projects.
Enhances Collaborations:
The electrical design software allows team members to share information about the project easily and keeps everyone on the same page. The facility of quickly accessing the information can help users in managing and tracking the components required in an electronic project on their fingertips. Moreover, the entire team member can review, monitor, measure, and make changes to the electrical designs digitally on a real-time basis.
Must-Have Features of an Electrical Design Software
Drawing Tools
This is the most basic feature that is available in almost all the electrical design solutions. You need to check whether the design tools available in your electrical design solution are intuitive enough, allowing you to prepare your electrical designs quickly and seamlessly or not. It should also enable you to compare two versions of a drawing, easily helping you to create flawless and simple to understand electrical designs.
2D/3D Designing
The 2D/3D designing features allow you to design professionally presentable electrical designs. Some electrical design tools allow 2D drafting, drawing, and annotations for your electrical designs. In contrast, some tools allow 3D modeling and visualization, and some may even provide a combination of both of them. Depending on your business requirements, you can choose electrical design software and add flexibility and intelligence to your electrical plans.
AI-powered Automation
With AI-powered automation features, eliminating time-consuming and repetitive tasks becomes easy. A rule -based automation method eliminates the chances of human errors and enables effective digital assistance. This feature allows engineers to focus on more impactful work, which leads to enhanced productivity and work efficiency. It offers intelligent solutions to the shortage of skilled labourers and reduces the work load.
AI-powered Data Insights
Your electrical design software should have predictive analysis, real-time data, and AI-driven decisions to analyze future trends. This inspects rare items, events, or observations to find the hidden pattern with anomaly detection. It allows structured analysis of data to predict, forecast, suggest, and enhance real-time decision-making. AI-driven data analytics enable better decision-making to enhance efficiency.
Customizable
The electrical design solution you select should allow you to customize your interface as per your business logic so that you can save the time consumed for performing repetitive tasks and improve accessibility. Also, it should enable you to set your compliance rules depending on your local government and industry standards, ensuring that your electrical designs fulfill all the rules and regulations that are required to gain quick approvals from the authorities
Data Management
Your electrical design software should allow you to import/export data from other applications, re-use that information, make changes to the existing electrical designs, and share those designs with team members for suggestions and higher authorities for the approvals. For example, inserting a geographical location in your electrical design or attaching models with your drawings should be an easy task.
Multiple Platforms and Devices Support
The electrical CAD software you select should allow you to create, edit, and share your electrical drawings from any device or platform. Moreover, you should be able to publish your electrical project presentation in multiple formats allowing users to access it easily and provide their comments and suggestions.
List of Electrical Parts & Supplies
After the design is ready, you don’t need to manually prepare the list of electrical parts and supplies required to complete your project. The electrical design software generates the list of electrical parts & supplies automatically. This would ensure that you place the order for the right quantity of electrical parts & supplies required for your project, eliminate the chances of wastage, and save your money.
Integration to Purchasing Channels
Many electrical design solutions integrate the purchasing channels for buying electrical parts required for your project. Because of this integration, you can access real-time information about the electrical parts vendors and prices they are offering. This helps in making accurate purchase decisions quickly and saves your time.
Considering these must-have features, you can select the electrical design tool that best suits your business requirements. To help you further with the selection, we have shortlisted the best 7 free and open source electrical design software that you can consider deploying without investing a huge amount.
The Best 7 Free and Open Source Electrical Design Software
#1 QElectroTech
QElectroTech is a free and open source electrical design software that is used to create models for electrical, electronic, automation, and control circuits projects. It is a highly configurable software that can also be used to create mechanical and instrumental drawings helping to illustrate processes. It includes a large collection of standard and custom symbols that can describe the components used in electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and computer systems. These symbols can be easily dragged and dropped with the help of the mouse to a diagram editor to create a drawing that can describe a system.
(Source: Qelectrotech)
Key Features
- Includes element editor for creating schematic symbols and diagram editor for creating drawings
- Includes library of common symbols along with the IEC 60617 standardized symbols
- Allows to save elements in an XML and QET format
- Can export diagrams in dxf, pdf, jpg, png, bmp, svg, and many other formats
- Can support Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows operating systems
- Supports multiple languages
- Allows viewing in full-screen mode
- Can rotate group of elements intelligently
- Includes professional quality technical documentation and modern GUI
- Enables easy draw for complex schematic
If you have already used QElectroTech, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#2 FreePCB
FreePCB is a free and open source printed circuit board editor compatible with Microsoft Windows. It has been released under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) and is extremely easy to learn and use. It doesn’t have an in-built autorouter, but uses the FreeRoute web-based autorouter from freerouting.net. It has been programmed to work with Microsoft Windows, but it can run with Linux by using Wine, or on Macintosh computers with VirtualPC.
(Source: Freepcb)
Key Features
- Allows 1 to 16 copper layers
- Can design for board size upto 60X60 inches
- Uses English or metric units for electrical designs
- Includes Footprint Wizard and Footprint Editor for creating or modifying footprints
- Can import and export PADS-PCB netlists
- Can export extended Gerber files (RS274X and Excellon drill files
- Includes autosave functionality
- Includes design rule checker
If you have already used FreePCB, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#3 TinyCAD
TinyCAD is an open source and free electrical design software most commonly used for electrical circuit diagrams also known as schematic drawings. It includes a standard symbol library but also allows you to create your customized symbols. It can help you in creating PCB layout designs with different netlist formats and can also create SPICE simulation netlists. This program is also usually used to draw one-line diagrams, block diagrams, and presentation drawings.
(Source: Tinycad)
Key Features
- Allows embedding your circuit designs in your website, Word, and other documents
- Can convert circuit diagrams to PNG images
- Includes design rules checker which can help in determining the problems you can face while implementing in real
- Allows embedding graphical images in CAD drawings
- Allows creating libraries of customized symbols
- Can run directly on the browser with TinyCAD for the web option
If you have already used TinyCAD, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#4 XCircuit
XCircuit is a free and open source electrical design software that can help you in creating publishable quality electrical circuit schematic diagrams and related figures. It can also produce circuit netlists through schematic capture. It includes fully editable libraries of circuit components. It helps in creating drawings that are a perfect blend of artistic expression and technical detailing. Being a highly flexible program, it maintains style without compromising the power of schematic capture.
(Source: XCircuit)
Key Features
- Includes extensive drawing tools
- Allows zoom in and zoom out for designing intricately
- Includes detailed info window for each tool
- Includes tools for creating new elements like wire, box, arc, etc.
- Allows importing external images
- Allows embedding text into the drawings and even editing that text
- Allows inserting info label for netlists
- Allows creating and editing libraries
- Allows creating and manipulating parameters
- Can import graphics and merging them with the current design
- Allows element editing
If you have already used XCircuit, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#5 Circuitmaker
Circuitmaker is a free and open source electrical design software that doesn't limit your imagination and helps you in designing high-quality schematics and PCBs. The best thing about it is that it has no artificial limits on layer counts or board area. Moreover, it includes a community where you can have access to great reference designs and also helps you to promote and rate the electrical design projects. Using this program, you can also set up teams for designing collaboratively.
(Source: Circuitmaker)
Key Features
- Includes multi-sheet schematic editor
- Allows sharing & collaborating to get the projects done quicker
- Includes push and shove routing capabilities
- Allows interactively routing multi-nets or single nets, or use manual routing with auto-complete
- Helps in generating DRC/DFM validated outputs
- Allows importing designs from other tools
- Includes one-click manufacturing button that allows you to send your design for real manufacturing at the best price
- Comes with rich component library, and altium native 3D technology options
If you have already used Circuitmaker, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#6 KiCad
KiCad is a free and open source electronic design automation suite compatible with Windows, OSX, and Linux. It includes an integrated environment for designing PCB layouts and capturing schematics. It can also create bills of materials providing an estimate of how much material would be needed to complete the electrical project. Also, it can create 3D presentations to get a realistic view of the actual project. This electrical design application includes many component libraries, and even users can add custom components to enhance the library.
(Source: KiCad)
Key Features
- Supports arbitrary color schemes
- Includes a new highlighting style for disambiguating selections for greater clarity
- Allows zooming when using trackpads in MacOS
- Ability to perform simple math equations in some input fields
- Allows cross probing with highlighting
- Includes symbol, icon, footprint and 3D model libraries
- Includes custom picker dialog
- Includes environment variable editor for managing internal environment variables
- Offers printed circuit board(PCB) layout & 3D rendering
If you have already used KiCad, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#7 SimulIDE
SimulIDE is a free and open source electrical design software that is simple and easy to use. It is used for advanced learning as it allows users to drag and drop components from the list and drop into the circuit design, connect them, and push the power button to experience how it works. It also includes a right-click accessible context menu that lets you select components and place them in the angle you require.
(Source: Simulide)
- Allows creating one-line electrical diagrams
- Features a code editor and debugger for GcBasic, Arduino, PIC asm and AVR asm
- Includes easy to use drag and drop features
- Includes electrical parts catalog
- Includes symbol library and PLC tools
- Analog and Digital components
- Includes microcontrollers, code editor, and debugger
- Includes subcircuits, DIP/Logic symbols, circuit animation, and basic shapes
- Includes oscilloscope, logic analyzer, serial port connection, and serial monitor
If you have already used SimulIDE, please feel free to share your reviews here.
If you are looking for a quick understanding of the features offered by the above-mentioned software solutions, then we suggest you go through the following comparison chart.
The Best 7 Free and Open Source Electrical Design Software Comparison Chart
So, these were the best 7 free and open source electrical design tools.
If you are looking for a better option with advanced features other than the ones offered by these free electrical design solutions, we would suggest you go through the below mentioned list of popular electrical design software as follows.
Popular Electrical Design Software
AutoCAD is a popular electrical design software introduced by Autodesk with an effective electrical toolset. The tool includes rich features such as annotations, cable marker library, gauge information, connected support files, and manufacturer catalog content. Autodesk's study noted that the electrical toolset boosted productivity by upto 95%, assisting AUTOCAD electrical design tasks. AutoCAD offers a library of more than 65000 intelligent electric symbols, generation of component tags, and automated numbering of wires. With the assistance of AutoCAD, various customized reports can be automatically generated and updated.
If you have already used AutoCAD Electrical, please feel free to share your reviews here.
EdrawMax is a top seller all-in-one diagram solutions of Edrawsoft, a subsidiary of Shenzhen Edraw software, affiliated with Wondershare. The software offers flowcharts, floor plans, charts, ER diagrams, and more are supported. Edrawmax allows you to view, create, and edit a diagram via the cloud without downloading the software. The software is available for download on multiple operating systems such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, iOS, and Android. It comes with a simple UI with a neat and clean interface, rich resources, cross-platform integration, AI tools, and sharing & collaboration features.
If you have already used Edraw Max, please feel free to share your reviews here.
SkyCAD Electrical is an affordable electrical schematic software with quality electrical design features. The simple and easy-to-use features and functionality make the software easy to learn and does not require training to master it. The software is used for industrial automation & for OEM manufacturers and allows export projects into DWG, DXF, and PDF format. SkyCAD allows automated numbering¸ cross-references, parts-list, BOMs, and other reports. The software offers a free version, an advanced version, and the pro version with quality features to shape electric designs. The software allows license sharing and an online parts catalog to assist the SkyCAD user community with work efficiency.
If you have already used SkyCAD, please feel free to share your reviews here.
ProfiCAD is a popular electrical design software known for diagrams, schematics, and control circuit diagrams. The software includes advanced features such as the numbering of symbols dynamically, striped wires drawing, quick symbol search, insertion of symbols in a circuit automatically, and more. You can get print reports for essential project documentation, symbol editor, title block editor, cross-references between wires & symbols, drawing of floor plans & mechanical drawings, and drawing cable symbols with ProfiCAD. It comes with the free and paid versions of the premium feature difference.
If you have already used ProfiCAD, please feel free to share your reviews here.
Conclusion
Basically, the traditional ways of creating electrical design models can be cumbersome and cannot provide clear visibility about how the project would turn out in reality. Thus, most of the professional electrical engineers & draftsmen use electrical design tools to create consolidated designs with analytical capabilities ensuring smoother workflow, increased accuracy, and enhanced productivity.
We hope that this article has helped you in choosing the best electrical design software suiting your business requirements. Still, if you are looking for more options in this category, you can go through many freemium and paid options in this complete list of electrical design software.
Also, browse all software categories if you are looking for software used in other industries as well.
