CAD software

CAD software is useful for preparing drawings and designs, and for other purposes. It would be foolish for the participants in this Renewable Energy Design Wikia to fail to make use of these tools.

Quoting the Wikipedia article List of CAD companies for its links to other Wikipedia articles:


 * Many Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) companies have produced engineering software (CAD/CAE/CAM/PDM) software from the 1970s through to the present.

Free Libre / Open Source CAD Software (FLOSS)
There are a number of CAD software packages which are true free software, or at least open source software.

The SASHEAC Renewable Energy Design project is presently using BRL-CAD 3D CAD software (homepage) originally developed by the U.S. Army Research Labs (formerly Ballistics Research Labs), and now released under the GPL.

CAD Freeware
This freeware is available free of direct cost, but remember that you must invest significant time learning to use it and hence will become dependent on it. Then you may find it necessary to spend money on a version with more features. In general, the source code is not available, and you cannot fix bugs yourself, or add enhancements. Let the buyer beware.

See also List of CAD companies

Low Cost
See List of CAD companies

Professional
See List of CAD companies