Case Study: Whirl Energy achieves patent‑pending submerged buoy power storage with SOLIDWORKS solutions

Creating a Mechanical Power Storage System With SolidWorks Solutions

Whirl Energy, Inc. needed an efficient, low-cost way to store surplus wind and solar power without relying on batteries, and developed a submerged-buoy concept that uses surplus electricity to winch buoys down ~100 meters and recover energy as they rise. To design and validate this unconventional mechanical storage system, Whirl Energy standardized on SolidWorks product development solutions (SolidWorks Premium, Simulation Premium, Flow Simulation and Enterprise PDM) for design, FEA, CFD and data management.

Using SolidWorks, Whirl Energy rapidly iterated from concept to a patent-pending 1/10-scale prototype, simulated and resolved extreme winch and tether loads (including designs for five‑meter‑diameter buoys and millions of Newton‑meters of torque), and produced photorealistic visualizations to support investors. SolidWorks’ integrated design, simulation and PDM tools cut development time and cost, validated key mechanics and prepared the company to advance toward a commercial pilot.

Whirl Energy

Saben Murray

President