Case Study: Solar Ship achieves regulatory-approved piloted solar-powered hybrid airship with SOLIDWORKS solutions

Commercializing the first solar-powered hybrid airship with SOLIDWORKS solutions

Solar Ship, a Toronto-based developer of the world’s first solar-powered hybrid airship, needed to accelerate development and meet stringent governmental safety and regulatory requirements to commercialize its piloted Caracal and larger follow-on models for remote transport. To do this, Solar Ship adopted SolidWorks solutions — including SOLIDWORKS design (Standard/Professional/Premium), SOLIDWORKS Simulation and Flow Simulation, Enterprise PDM, Sustainability, and Composer — to provide an integrated platform for collaborative design, analysis, and documentation.

Using SolidWorks, Solar Ship applied FEA and CFD simulations to validate novel aeronautical concepts, cut destructive testing, and reduce the number of physical prototypes, while Enterprise PDM and visualization tools improved collaboration with global partners. The result was an accelerated, safer development process that lowered costs and prototypes and enabled Solar Ship to fly its first piloted hybrid airship and secure governmental regulatory approval.

Solar Ship

Andrew Leinonen

Industrial Designer