Master thesis: open-source software for large solar thermal plants

AEE - Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien (AEE INTEC)

AEE - Institute for Sustainable Technologies (AEE INTEC) is a non-university research institute founded in 1988. AEE INTEC currently employs around 80 researchers from eleven nations and hosts PhD and master students, and interns. AEE INTEC works in the fields of "Buildings", "Cities and Networks", "Technology Development" and "Industrial Systems" on fundamental and application-oriented research in national and international R&D projects.

Research project

The master's thesis is part of an ongoing research project about Digital Twins for large solar thermal plants. The project aim is to develop methods for SunPeek (sunpeek.org), an open-source software for detailed performance assessment of large-scale solar thermal plants. The thesis focuses on developing and automating certain monitoring procedures in a “real-time” data setting; solar plants with an established data connection are already available. The overall goal is to contribute to plant operation and maintenance by detecting effects such as pollution, degradation or loss of efficiency.

Master’s thesis

The focus is on software implementation, further development, and visualization of methods for ongoing performance evaluation of solar thermal plants. Several existing methods can be incorporated in the analysis as well. Measurement data for method and software development are available.

Tasks

• Research of methods for ongoing plant evaluation and performance degradation detection.
• Modeling of test plants, implementation and application of static and dynamic plant models
• Implementation of algorithms for data quality, KPIs and radiation conversion
• Interpretation and visual representation of results

We offer

• Paid master's thesis with possibility for scientific publications.
• Mention as a contributor in the open-source project.
• Support and involvement in a participative, multidisciplinary team.
• Exchange with industry partners and possibility of participation in webinars / trainings.

We expect

• Current enrollment in a master’s program with a focus on physics, software development, energy engineering, control engineering, or similar.
• Experience with software development, Python / web technologies / JavaScript / Grafana
• Good knowledge of English (CEFR B2 level or equivalent)

Work plan

Planned duration: 6 months
Start date: as soon as possible
Location: Gleisdorf (Austria) / home office

Contact

DI Philip Ohnewein
p.ohnewein@aee.at
+43 (0)660 4741783