To better harness the world’s renewable resources, 3TIER takes cutting-edge research from the scientific community and develops those capabilities into state-of-the-art renewable energy information products.
Rather than developing our own "black box," the core of our work relies on open-source mesoscale numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, distributed hydrological flow models, and satellite image processing techniques that are supported and continually enhanced by the scientific community. 3TIER scientists and engineers are active participants in this community, regularly collaborating with their colleagues in academia. They present frequently at scientific conferences, publish academic papers, serve on graduate committees, and participate in professional societies.
Our use of NWP models in particular is highly specialized, and 3TIER has unequalled expertise in applying them to the problem of optimally locating, assessing, and forecasting wind, solar, and hydro resources. We have developed many proprietary methodologies that further enhance the effectiveness of NWP models for these applications. We also add substantial value by transforming the vast amounts of output data into relevant, actionable information that drives decisions about renewable energy policy, investment, and integration.
We have a global perspective, and our motives are often as much educational as commercial. Under the banner of our "REmapping the World" campaign, 3TIER was the first organization to map the world’s wind resources, as well as the Western Hemisphere’s solar resources, at a high resolution. This initiative is providing the critical information that has been missing to make renewable energy a viable choice on a global scale. FirstLook, the web interface that provides free access to these maps, received the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) award for Commercial Achievement in 2009. Not satisfied with that innovation, we’re now also making those datasets accessible to third parties via an Application Programming Interface (API).
Other recent advancements include Portfolio Climate Variability Analysis, which fundamentally changes the way wind power developers assess the viability of sites. Leveraging our unique cross renewable expertise, we’re also the first to incorporate other atmospheric variables such wind and temperature in our solar assessment reports, as well as MOS (Model Output Statistics) correction for sites where ground measurement data is available.
Stay tuned. We’ve built a team and infrastructure that is enabling us to bring a long pipeline of innovative products to market that fundamentally improve the way we harness the world’s renewable energy resources.
