What F Chart Software does

F-Chart Software, LLC is a privately held Wisconsin-based software company founded in 1975 that develops specialized engineering analysis tools for thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and solar energy applications. The company's flagship product, EES (Engineering Equation Solver), solves thousands of coupled non-linear algebraic and differential equations and includes a built-in library of thermodynamic and transport properties for hundreds of substances; complementary products include FEHT for 2D finite element heat transfer analysis, F-CHART for solar thermal system design, PV F-CHART for photovoltaic system analysis, and EESyGrader for automated academic grading. The company was founded by S.A. Klein and W.A. Beckman, the originators of the F-Chart method, both affiliated with the University of Wisconsin.

F-Chart Software operates with a small team (1-10 employees) and runs a direct-to-customer digital distribution model through its website, with no external institutional investment. Revenue is generated through a mix of one-time software licenses (commercial, professional, and academic site licenses for departments of educational institutions) and recurring subscription services, notably the Instant Update and Technical Service (IUTS) for commercial users and the Academic Update Service mandated for new academic licenses purchased after June 1, 2025. Pricing is modest per-seat (e.g., FEHT $400 single-user, F-CHART $600 academic site license) with multi-user and department-wide tiers available.

The company serves two primary customer segments: degree-granting academic institutions that use EES and FEHT in engineering curricula and research, and commercial/professional engineers performing design and analysis in HVAC, refrigeration, solar, and process industries. Distribution is global via digital download, with integrations to NIST REFPROP for high-accuracy fluid properties, and interoperability with Python, MATLAB, LabVIEW, and Excel.

Name

F Chart Software

Legal name

F-Chart Software, LLC

Website

https://fchartsoftware.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

F-Chart Software, a privately held Wisconsin LLC founded in 1975, develops engineering analysis software — including the EES equation solver, FEHT finite element tool, and F-CHART/PV F-CHART solar design programs — serving academic institutions and commercial engineering professionals worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: F-Chart Software generates revenue through sale of software licenses for EES, FEHT, F-CHART, and PV F-CHART products. Licensing tiers include single user, multi-user, student, academic site, commercial, and professional versions. Academic licenses are available for educational institutions with department-wide deployment options.
2. Academic Site Licenses: One-time charge academic site licenses for departments of educational institutions, allowing program placement on servers and student personal use copies. New versions provided annually at no cost for licensed institutions.
3. Academic Update Service: Annual subscription for academic institutions providing access to current software versions and technical support. Required for new academic licenses purchased after June 1, 2025.
4. Instant Update and Technical Service (IUTS): Annual subscription service for commercial and professional users providing access to current software versions and technical support. Multi-user licenses over 20 users require annual fee of 20% of license cost.
5. Mastering EES eBook: 970-page comprehensive book on EES features available as electronic download for $25 for one user, or $125 for academic department access (5 copies).
6. EES_REFPROP Interface: Separate purchase for interface allowing EES to use NIST REFPROP property database. Requires separate purchase of REFPROP program from NIST. Number of users must match EES license.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

F-Chart Software develops and sells specialized engineering analysis software for thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and solar/photovoltaic system design. Its flagship EES (Engineering Equation Solver) solves thousands of coupled non-linear equations with built-in thermodynamic property libraries, supplemented by FEHT finite element analysis, F-CHART solar system design, PV F-CHART photovoltaic design, and EESyGrader automated grading tools.

Product overview

F-Chart Software develops and maintains a suite of engineering analysis software applications. The core product EES (Engineering Equation Solver) is a general-purpose equation solver with extensive thermodynamic and transport property libraries. FEHT provides finite element analysis for heat transfer and related physics. F-CHART and PV F-CHART address solar and photovoltaic system design. EESyGrader is an automated grading tool for academic settings. These products share common engineering foundations in thermodynamics and heat transfer, with EES serving as the primary platform enhanced by specialized add-ons including the REFPROP interface for advanced fluid properties. The software is available in Academic, Commercial, and Professional license tiers with varying feature sets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EES: Engineering Equation Solver - a general equation solver that can solve thousands of coupled non-linear algebraic and differential equations, including a library of thermodynamic and transport properties for hundreds of substances.
• FEHT
• F-CHART
• PV F-CHART
• EESyGrader

Quantifiable outcome

• EES provides built-in properties for hundreds of substances including pure fluids and refrigerant mixtures such as R407C, R410A, R449A, R450A, R452A, R452B, R454C, R470A, R470B, R471A, R507A, R508B, R513A, R514A and ammonia-water
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)coreTechnology or IntegrationNIST developed REFPROP (Standard Reference Database 23) providing high-accuracy property data for pure refrigerants and refrigerant mixtures. F-Chart developed the EES_REFPROP interface allowing EES equation-solving capabilities to use NIST property data.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MathWorks: MathWorks makes MATLAB and Simulink, the most widely used numerical computing and equation-solving environment in engineering. Both EES and MATLAB target engineers solving coupled nonlinear equations, with overlapping use in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and optimization coursework.
• Thermo-Calc Software: Thermo-Calc provides thermodynamic and diffusion calculation software with extensive material databases. It is comparable to EES in its use of validated thermodynamic property libraries and its adoption in engineering research and design workflows.
• PVsyst: PVsyst is a dedicated photovoltaic system design and performance simulation tool. It is the closest direct competitor to PV F-CHART, used by PV engineers and researchers for energy yield and system design analysis.
• Wolfram Research: Wolfram's Mathematica is a symbolic and numerical computing platform used across engineering and physics. It competes with EES for solving coupled systems of equations and for symbolic thermodynamic calculations in academic and research settings.
• COMSOL: COMSOL Multiphysics is a leading commercial finite element analysis platform. FEHT is a direct functional peer for 2D heat transfer, electrostatics, and potential flow FEA, serving a similar base of academic and R&D engineering users.

Broad incumbents

• Altair Engineering: Altair provides a suite of engineering simulation and optimization software, including thermal and FEA tools. It overlaps with FEHT and the optimization features of EES, but at a much broader enterprise scale.
• ANSYS: ANSYS is a broad engineering simulation platform covering thermal, structural, and fluid analysis. Its thermal/FEA products overlap with FEHT and EES use cases, but ANSYS serves a much wider portfolio and customer base than F-Chart's niche.
• Aspen Technology: Aspen Tech provides process simulation software for chemical, energy, and pharmaceutical industries. Its thermodynamic property handling and equation-solving capabilities overlap with EES's industrial engineering use cases, especially in refrigeration and process design.

Others

• Meteonorm: Meteonorm provides global solar and meteorological reference data used in solar and PV system design. It is thematically related to F-CHART's built-in weather data capability and is often used alongside PV F-CHART in renewable energy engineering projects.

Emerging players

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (System Advisor Model): NREL's SAM is a free, performance and financial model for renewable energy systems. It is a partial alternative to F-CHART and PV F-CHART for solar/PV analysis, with strong adoption in academia and federal research, but is not a commercial product.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC-ioVAX2wwWIp1VQSb_4EFg
• LinkedInyoutube.com/channel/UC-ioVAX2wwWIp1VQSb_4EFg

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about F Chart Software