Renewable energy information services provider 3TIER launches solar assessment products in India

27 July 2010

Global renewable energy information service provider 3TIER has launched its complete suite of solar prospecting and assessment products in India.

The products are designed to enable project developers to quantify the long-term availability and variability of solar resources with or without observational data.

They are based on 3TIER’s proprietary solar dataset, which it said is the most advanced and accurate model that exists for India.

Nikhilesh Singh, managing director of 3TIER’s Bangalore office, said, ‘While much of India enjoys good solar resources, seasonal variability is significant, and 3TIER can help developers determine which sites are truly exceptional.’

The company’s solar dataset, which is based on satellite image processing, provides between three and 30 times greater resolution than any other dataset for India.

It is also based on a longer and a more current timeframe than other versions, using hourly satellite images from January 1999 through February 2010.

The company said that the process accounts for turbidity caused by pollution, water vapour, and other particulate matter, accurately recording seasonal effects of monsoon activity.

The dataset has been rigorously validated and includes hourly values for Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) and Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DHI).

The dataset also enables consistent analysis anywhere in the world, the company added.

3TIER has been operating its Bangalore office since 2008 and is currently working with many of the largest solar energy developers in India.

Its Solar Prospecting Tools, currently in an early-stage of development, provides online access to GHI, DNI and DIF variability on a monthly and annual basis for all of India, as well as several other regions worldwide.

3TIER also provides this information in the form of GIS data layers, enabling broad-scale development planning.

The company has also made available the entire 11-year hourly time series of data for virtually any location.

3TIER’s FullView Assessment products provide a more in-depth analysis of the solar resource and include data on other atmospheric factors, such as variations in temperature and wind speed, which have a significant impact on power production.

‘A year of observational data simply doesn’t provide enough information or context to make a prudent investment in a solar project,’ said Kenneth Westrick, founder and CEO of 3TIER.

‘3TIER’s solar products enable developers and financiers to understand the long-term characteristics of the solar resource, as well as all the factors that will impact production over the life of the project, putting the project on a solid financial foundation.’

3TIER was founded in 1999 and maintains offices in US, India, Panama and Australia.

Copyright © 2010 NewNet

Tags: solar, solar assessment

This story was published on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 11:51 am and is filed under Asia, companies, solar. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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