Vela Solaris
Vela Solaris AG is a privately held Swiss software company that develops Polysun, a simulation and planning software suite for designing and optimizing building and district energy systems. It serves professional MEP/HVAC engineers, PV planners, energy contractors, municipal utilities, manufacturers, and universities worldwide through direct sales of licensed desktop software, subscriptions, and a cloud API.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersWinterthur, Switzerland
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Vela Solaris does
Vela Solaris AG is a privately held Swiss software company headquartered in Winterthur that develops and markets Polysun, a simulation and planning software suite for energy systems in buildings and districts. Founded in 2007, the company employs between 11 and 50 people and serves professional energy planners, MEP/HVAC engineers, PV system planners, energy contractors, municipal utilities (Stadtwerke), energy consultants, manufacturers, distributors, and universities worldwide. Its product portfolio consists of four distinct offerings: Polysun Standard (entry-level variant comparison), Polysun Designer (full-featured professional simulation with programmable controllers), Polysun SPT (specialized 3D PV system planning with yield prediction), and Polysun API (cloud-based simulation engine accessible to third-party developers). The underlying technology is a multi-vendor validated simulation engine covering heat pumps, PV, solar thermal, PVT, buffer tanks, geothermal heating, district heating networks, and waste heat recovery, with plugin extensibility via Java, Python, and Matlab and integration with IDA ICE.
The company monetizes through a mix of one-time perpetual licenses, software leases, annual service subscriptions (covering updates and support), and usage-based API access, with professional services billed separately at hourly rates. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with student licenses available and a 30-day free trial used as a sales conversion mechanism. Distribution is primarily direct via a web shop and consultative sales with screen-sharing demonstrations, supplemented by a referral program that pays existing customers EUR 100/CHF 100 in credit. The website is maintained in German, English, and French, and the company claims global reach supported by worldwide weather data and multilingual documentation. Recent strategic activity under CEO Samuel Gähwiler (appointed 2024) has emphasized product extensions — including the November 2025 launch of data center waste heat utilization templates — and ecosystem development through the API and third-party integrations.
Vela Solaris firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Vela Solaris
- Legal name
- Vela Solaris AG
- Website
- https://velasolaris.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Vela Solaris AG is a privately held Swiss software company that develops Polysun, a simulation and planning software suite for designing and optimizing building and district energy systems. It serves professional MEP/HVAC engineers, PV planners, energy contractors, municipal utilities, manufacturers, and universities worldwide through direct sales of licensed desktop software, subscriptions, and a cloud API.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Vela Solaris industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Energy System Simulation Software
- NAICS
- Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Solar Design, Engineering & Performance Software (PV Modeling, Digital Twins, Monitoring) (EUAMABAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Owner’s Engineering, Grid Interconnection & System Studies (PVsyst/Performance Modeling, Protection Studies) (EUACAGAG)
Keywords
Where Vela Solaris is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Winterthur
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Vela Solaris business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software License Purchase: Customers can purchase perpetual software licenses. Upon purchase and timely payment, users receive a non-transferable and non-exclusive right to use the software. Unless otherwise specified, users have the right to use the software for 4 years without a valid service subscription.
- Software Lease: Customers can lease the software for a specified contract period. The lease begins when the license is activated and continues as stipulated in the contract. Automatic renewal is available if agreed upon.
- Service Subscription: Annual service subscription included with license purchase for 12 months, automatically extended by 12 months unless cancelled. Includes software updates, enhancements, and support via email or phone on weekdays 9am-5pm CET. Fee is due annually after the first 12 months.
- Professional Services: Additional services not covered by the license agreement, including installation, implementation, upkeep, training, introduction, and specialized support are billed separately based on hourly rates.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Polysun Standard - Basic energy system planning with variant comparison |
| Subscription | Annual | Polysun Designer - Full functionality for custom power systems and controls |
| Subscription | Annual | Polysun SPT - 3D PV system planning with yield prediction |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Polysun API - Cloud simulation computing power |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Premium Features - Advanced capabilities at additional cost |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Vela Solaris product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Vela Solaris develops and sells Polysun, a simulation and planning software suite for energy systems that enables reliable design, dimensioning, and optimization of coupled energy systems in buildings and districts. The product line covers heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, solar thermal, PVT, buffer tanks, geothermal heating, district heating networks, and waste heat recovery, with variant comparison, profitability analysis, and CO2 savings calculation. Offerings are sold through perpetual licenses, leases, subscriptions, and a cloud-based simulation API.
Product overview
Vela Solaris offers Polysun, a professional simulation and planning software suite for energy systems. The portfolio consists of four distinct products: Polysun Standard (entry-level with variant comparison), Polysun Designer (full-featured professional version with programmable controls), Polysun SPT (specialized 3D photovoltaic planning module with yield prediction), and Polysun API (cloud-based simulation API for developers). The software enables reliable dimensioning and optimization of energy systems in buildings and districts, supporting all common technologies from single-family homes to entire quarters globally.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Polysun Standard: Customized energy system solutions with variant comparison for planning professionals.
- Polysun Designer
- Polysun SPT
- Polysun API
Products and services
- Polysun Standard Entry-level version of the Polysun simulation and planning software for energy systems, providing variant comparison and pre-configured templates to help professional planners design and optimize building energy systems.
- Polysun Designer Full-featured professional simulation and planning software for custom energy systems and controls, offering complete simulation capabilities, programmable controllers, and detailed component modeling for complex coupled energy systems.
- Polysun SPT Specialized module for detailed photovoltaic system planning, providing 3D PV modeling with yield prediction, self-consumption optimization, roof planning via Google Maps, string plan creation, realistic 3D visualizations, horizon line editing, and PV facade planning for PV system planners and installers.
- Polysun API Cloud-based simulation performance API that exposes the multi-vendor validated Polysun simulation engine to developers, enabling third-party applications and business models to leverage Polysun's simulation capabilities programmatically through usage-based pricing.
Quantifiable outcome
- Data center waste heat can be efficiently utilized for building heating, improving overall energy efficiency
Companies that use Vela Solaris
Customer profileSegments7 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Vela Solaris technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
Vela Solaris partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Vela Solaris competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Autodesk: Autodesk's Revit/Insight provides building energy analysis within a broad BIM/CAD portfolio already used by MEP engineers. A broad incumbent threat — Autodesk can bundle energy analysis that Polysun performs as a standalone tool, though typically less granular on coupled systems.
- Trimble: Trimble's solar planning and energy modeling capabilities (e.g., within its design and surveying ecosystem) overlap with Polysun SPT's 3D PV planning. Trimble brings significant sales reach and channel density that a 11–50-person competitor cannot match.
Direct peers
- PVsyst: PVsyst is the dominant PC-based PV system simulation tool used by professional planners for yield prediction and 3D shading analysis — the most direct competitor to Polysun's SPT module and the only single-tech PV planning tool with comparable professional adoption.
- DesignBuilder: DesignBuilder is a commercial building performance simulation GUI built on EnergyPlus, used by MEP engineers for HVAC and energy optimization — overlapping Polysun's energy demand and HVAC dimensioning capabilities for the engineering-firm customer segment.
- EnergyPlus (US DOE): EnergyPlus is the US Department of Energy's whole-building energy simulation engine. It overlaps with Polysun's building energy demand and coupled-system modeling, particularly for engineering consultants and municipal projects, though offered as free open-source.
- NREL System Advisor Model (SAM): SAM is NREL's free renewable energy system performance and financial model. Overlaps Polysun SPT and Designer for PV yield prediction and economic analysis, particularly in academic/Stadtwerke settings where free tools compete with Polysun.
- RETScreen (Natural Resources Canada): RETScreen is a free, government-backed clean-energy feasibility analysis tool used by energy consultants worldwide. Comparable to Polysun's profitability and variant analysis capabilities, particularly for the energy-consultant segment.
- TRNSYS (Thermal Energy System Specialists): TRNSYS is a transient simulation tool widely used by researchers and engineers for coupled energy system modeling (solar thermal, district heating, heat pumps). Direct overlap with Polysun Designer for complex coupled-system simulation in research and consultancy contexts.
- HOMER Energy (UL Solutions): HOMER Pro/Grid optimizes hybrid renewable energy systems (PV, storage, generators) for off-grid and microgrid applications. Overlap with Polysun's variant comparison and PV-plus-storage optimization for energy contractors and remote/district systems.
- Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES): IES VE is a building performance and HVAC simulation suite used by engineers and consultants. Overlap with Polysun's MEP/HVAC engineer target segment, though broader in scope to whole-building carbon analysis.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Vela Solaris social profiles
Digital presenceVela Solaris financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Vela Solaris leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Vela Solaris funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Vela Solaris M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Vela Solaris
What does Vela Solaris do?
Vela Solaris develops and sells Polysun, a simulation and planning software suite for energy systems that enables reliable design, dimensioning, and optimization of coupled energy systems in buildings and districts. The product line covers heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, solar thermal, PVT, buffer tanks, geothermal heating, district heating networks, and waste heat recovery, with variant comparison, profitability analysis, and CO2 savings calculation. Offerings are sold through perpetual licenses, leases, subscriptions, and a cloud-based simulation API.
Is Vela Solaris a public or private company?
Vela Solaris is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Vela Solaris founded?
Vela Solaris was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Vela Solaris based?
Vela Solaris is headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Vela Solaris make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Software License Purchase is the primary driver. The others are software Lease, service Subscription and professional Services.
Who are Vela Solaris's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Autodesk and Trimble. Direct peers are PVsyst, DesignBuilder, EnergyPlus (US DOE), NREL System Advisor Model (SAM), RETScreen (Natural Resources Canada), TRNSYS (Thermal Energy System Specialists), HOMER Energy (UL Solutions) and Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES).
Does Vela Solaris have an API?
Yes. Polysun API enables simulation performance for building business models in the cloud. The software supports plugin controllers using Java, Python (via RPC-Plugin with JSON-RPC stream, JSON-RPC, and XML-RPC), and Matlab integration. Plugin development is supported through a development kit (PolysunPluginDevelopmentKit.zip) available in the data directory. Developer documentation is at www.velasolaris.com/produkte/polysun-api.
What industry is Vela Solaris in?
Vela Solaris's product category is Energy System Simulation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAMABAH, Solar Design, Engineering & Performance Software (PV Modeling, Digital Twins, Monitoring), with a secondary code of EUACAGAG, Owner’s Engineering, Grid Interconnection & System Studies (PVsyst/Performance Modeling, Protection Studies). Its NAICS code is 541511 and its SIC code is 7373.