Leadership transition: Samuel Gähwiler becomes the new Managing Director at Vela Solaris

Vela Solaris, a leading provider of software solutions for the planning and optimization of energy systems, has a new Managing Director on board as of 1 November 2024. Samuel Gähwiler brings many years of experience in building and scaling software companies. In the field of renewable energies, he is following his passion as an environmental engineer ETH with a specialization in energy balances and further education in software development.

Three questions to Samuel Gähwiler about his start at Vela Solaris:

What is your impression after the initial introduction period

I am impressed by the team spirit at Vela Solaris. The people who contribute to the energy transition with great passion and conviction. Each team member is committed to the further development of the product and to the customers and partners, and overcomes challenges with great enthusiasm and joy.

I have also been impressed by how many interesting and sometimes very large energy projects, such as industrial parks and large buildings, are using our simulation-based planning, design and optimization software. With all the optimization variants that our customers create every month with the software Polysun, we can make an ever greater contribution to the energy transition and that is very meaningful work.

What added value does Vela Solaris offer its customers?

The problem that our software solves for our customers is the optimal energy solution or PV design for a specific customer project. In doing so, we create a unique added value worldwide that is specifically tailored to the indispensable needs of our customer segments.

Planning offices, engineers and energy consultants with projects in the areas of building and industrial site development, district planning and the design of heating networks can determine the optimal solution for their customers based on a wide range of criteria: economic efficiency, CO₂ savings, degree of self-sufficiency, achievement of percentage renewable energy share. The simulation is the basis for obtaining subsidies and Polysun is recognized by standardization and industry associations.

However, the planners and engineers themselves also see the following added value: With the simulation, you can ensure better operational management, coordinate the individual components, design the process and set up the controllers. Only Polysun can do this across Europe.

For energy service providers, we offer an optimization solution for the design of their customer projects and for the precise simulation of scenarios for contracting offers to their customers. Accurate calculation and comparison of different energy system solutions help energy service companies and contracting providers to achieve valuable risk minimization in their financing projects.

How would you like to develop Vela Solaris further?

Since its foundation, Vela Solaris has established itself as a reliable partner to the energy and solar industry. My goal is to build on this strong foundation because I am aware that the energy transition is a joint task that can only be successful through cooperation. That’s why I want to promote an open and active dialog with our customers and partners. Regular workshops, feedback rounds and joint innovation projects will ensure that we develop exactly the solutions that our customers need. We also want to expand our network of partners – be they research institutions, other technology providers or political actors.

One innovation project in collaboration with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), for example, is multi-simulation. Based on the various energy system variants provided by the planners, an algorithm finds the design and optimization points with regard to various criteria such as cost-effectiveness, CO₂ emissions, and degree of self-sufficiency and can provide the user with valuable insights for optimizing the energy system.

Another important area is usability: our software should be intuitive and easy to understand, even for new users. Basically, the user should be able to reach their goal quickly and easily in order to achieve the optimization of energy systems through simulation in as many projects as possible.  We want to better understand what the obstacles are today that prevent planners from modeling and optimizing their projects at an early stage as standard.

Last but not least, we also want to continuously improve our processes and customer support so that our customers are optimally supported at every stage of their projects.

I am very much looking forward to accompanying Vela Solaris on this journey and contributing to a sustainable energy future together with our team and our partners.