Southern Beams Builds the First Industrial-Grade Solar Generator

Solar electric power generation company builds an industrial-grade mobile solar generator with SOLIDWORKS that eliminates the delays and costs of fixed infrastructure

Challenge

Building the first mobile solar generator built for large scale projects, which must be easy to transport and set up.

Action

Implement SOLIDWORKS to become the central hub for the company’s collective engineering expertise. By adopting SOLIDWORKS advanced sheet metal tools and integrating new manufacturing processes with Dassault Systèmes DELMIA, the company has achieved product development capabilities previously unattainable.

Results

  • Remove the disconnect between structural, mechanical, and electrical systems
  • Create a single source of truth within the design
  • Shortened development and production cycles
  • Cut production time

Most solar generators aren’t made for real work. They’re too small, too weak, or too complicated to be practical in the field. Dragon Wings generators are different.

Dragon Wings solar generators were developed by Southern Beams Builds, Inc., and are already powering construction sites, EV charging stations, live events, and industrial operations, all of which can’t afford downtime. Dragon Wings is a heavy-duty, mobile solar power station capable of running industrial-grade equipment off-grid, silently and sustainably.

“Dragon Wings exemplifies what mobile solar innovation can achieve, providing a seamless, scalable, and eco-friendly energy solution without the logistical hurdles of construction or permits,” emphasizes Southern Beams Builds CEO Dr. Ryan Wartena in a recent press release. Dragon Wings is an integrated solar microgrid. It's the size of a 20-foot shipping container, and it has expandable scissor armatures that expand to an overall width of 84 feet.

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Silent Power That Delivers

With its 60-panel photovoltaic wings, Dragon Wings can generate 70 to 150kWh of energy each day and store that energy on board via 75kWh to 450kWh lithium battery capacity. That means running heavy-duty tools, recharging fleets of EVs, or keeping industrial processes online without a drop of diesel.

Dragon Wings are not just solar panels on wheels. They are designed for harsh environments, rapid deployment, and total autonomy. Consider some of the key features:

  • Quick setup: Panels open in two minutes and are ready to power in five minutes.
  • Passive operation: Panels automatically close at night or in high winds.
  • Monitored and controlled via mobile app.
  • Produces energy on- or off-grid.

Dragon Wings delivers AC power in 30kW and 60kW units, with the ability to chain multiple units to produce up to 1000kW (a megawatt) of mobile, silent, fuel-free energy.

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Having an industry-standard piece of software [like SOLIDWORKS] has made it easier to work with machine shops, sheet metal shops, or whomever we're talking to for part production.

Wil Gering

Director of Production

southern-beams-design-with-solidworks

Design Through Manufacturing

For Southern Beams Builds Director of Production Wil Gering, the transition to SOLIDWORKS® was pivotal. Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS is now the central hub for the company’s collective engineering expertise, which enables the realization of the Dragon Wings system. By adopting SOLIDWORKS advanced sheet metal tools and integrating new manufacturing processes with Dassault Systèmes DELMIA, the company has achieved product development capabilities previously unattainable.

SOLIDWORKS has enabled the company to streamline the process and simplify collaboration internally and with vendors externally. Gering notes, “Having an industry-standard piece of software [like SOLIDWORKS] has made it easier to work with machine shops, sheet metal shops, or whomever we're talking to for part production.”

SOLIDWORKS also helped solve a critical gap. A major challenge in the Southern Beams Builds development cycle was a disconnect between the structural mechanical and the electrical and control teams. The lack of integration led to delays, increased costs, and considerable frustration. “That’s been a huge stumbling block for us in our production processes in the past,” explains Gering. “The SOLIDWORKS model has truly become our single source of truth.”

southern-beams-design-installation

Simplifying EV Infrastructure

It often takes more than a year to install permanent electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, and it’s expensive. Dragon Wings offers a flexible alternative: a mobile, modular system that combines solar panels and battery storage. The solar generators solve space and power challenges by delivering reliable energy on demand, whether for day-to-day needs or in remote and emergency situations. Industrial solar that works anywhere, sets up in minutes, and doesn’t need permits? That’s a roadmap to energy independence.

Dragon Wings isn’t following trends. It’s a workhorse. A clean, smart, rugged solar generator built for people who need power where and when it matters. Southern Beams Builds let go of retrofitting old ideas and built the future from scratch.

southern-beams-final-design-with-solidworks

Engineered for the Future

Southern Beams is preparing to extend its digital thread into DELMIA for end-to-end product life cycle management. “[We are] taking that now fully featured SOLIDWORKS model and pushing it all the way through to DELMIA,” says Gering. “We can have our entire product process from design, engineering, manufacturing, operations, service and maintenance all in one place and on the same page.”

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