I work on technical questions with the methods of research and deliver a result you can keep working with. The three areas often work together: a model becomes software, a simulation accompanies a prototype.
My services are aimed at small and mid-sized companies, engineering firms and municipal utilities that have a concrete technical question but no research department of their own. Typical are well-scoped tasks and questions in modelling, simulation and automation that are completed within a few weeks to months and do not justify a permanent full-time position.
The methods are not limited to energy systems: modelling, optimisation, test rigs and measurement automation apply equally to drives, vehicle components or production processes.
Engineering software
You get a tool you keep using yourself. I develop software for questions that no existing tool answers: my own models, algorithms and analyses, from the method to the working program. This is how a benchmark set for load profiles and frameworks for energy management strategies came about, now available as open source. Where calculations in Excel or Matlab already exist, I build on them. The software is under version control, documented and tested.
Examples: storage sizing for wind farms, assessing flexibility potential.
Modelling and optimisation
You get a traceable answer to your question. Which storage size and operating strategy suit a load profile? How much load can be shifted in time, and what is it worth? What do your measurement and operating data show? I answer such questions with mathematical models: I formulate linear and nonlinear optimisation problems, simulate operating strategies or run parameter studies with hundreds of thousands of variants on a computing cluster and evaluate them statistically. Report and source code make every step verifiable.
Examples: hybrid energy storage systems, energy-plus neighbourhood, tram network with flywheel storage.
Hardware prototyping
You get a working setup on which your idea can be tested. I design and build prototypes and test rigs: from the 3D model through bearings, drives and rotor dynamics to motor control and automated measurement.
Examples: flywheel storage prototype, NC rotary table for a laser scanning vibrometer.
Two ways of working together
An assignment with a defined result. We agree on question, scope and deliverables up front. You receive report, source code and documentation. The results can be traced and reproduced.
Support for your project team. During workload peaks I join your team for an agreed period and scope.
Terms
I adapt to what suits your project: a fixed price or billing by effort, with terms agreed individually. An initial conversation and the offer are, of course, free of charge. Confidentiality, rights of use for source code and results, and the handling of your data are arranged according to your requirements, with a non-disclosure agreement if you wish.
What I do not offer
Standard tasks for which specialised providers exist, such as designing PV systems for houses or air conditioning for office buildings. Specialist firms do this faster and at lower cost. If your question falls into this category, I will tell you openly.