Primary Uses
- Integrating scientific data into internal analysis tools and software
- Community-scale solar prospecting
- Comparing sites within your portfolio
- Determining initial project feasibility
- Comparing irradiance with load profile or spot price
Use over a decade of hourly irradiance data to evaluate solar resource intensity and variability at nearly any location worldwide.
Based on proven science and over a decade of visible satellite imagery, our time series have been rigorously validated and offer a complete 13 to 15 year data file of hour-by-hour values for GHI (Global Horizontal Irradiance), DNI (Direct Normal Irradiance), and DIF (Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance) at a horizontal resolution of roughly 3 kilometers. The use of long-term, hourly solar data offers a more comprehensive analysis of the solar resources at your site, and ultimately a deeper understanding of your site's viability.
Provided as a CSV data file, 3TIER's Solar Time Series easily uploads to the software of your choice. Time series data can also be directly integrated into solar software interfaces using our API. With all of this resource information available at your fingertips, you can accurately determine the production potential and expected resource performance for residential or light commercial solar installations and facilitate additional assessment for large-scale projects.
3TIER's Solar Time Series is based on our global solar dataset, which was developed using a uniform methodology. Now when you are comparing multiple locations, you can be confident that the information you are using was calculated by the same exact scientific techniques. With more reliable point-to-point comparisons you have a clear picture of the risks and opportunities at every potential site in your portfolio.
| 3TIER Solar Time Series | Solar Site CVA | Solar Site Resource Assessment | |
| Product Features | |||
| Monthly variation of irradiance | X | ||
| Diurnal variation of irradiance | X | ||
| Annual mean maps of GHI, DNI, DIF | X | ||
| Irradiance histograms for GHI, DNI, DIF | X | ||
| Monthly variation of irradiance (with MOS correction) | X | ||
| Diurnal variation of irradiance (with MOS correction) | X | ||
| Irradiance histograms for GHI, DNI, DIF (with MOS correction) | X | ||
| Monthly temperature and wind speed variability (min, mean, max) | X | X | |
| Diurnal temperature and wind speed variability and 12x24 table of hourly means | X | X | |
| Time series for solar GHI, DNI, DIF | X | X | |
| Time series for solar GHI, DNI, DIF (with MOS correction) | X | ||
| Time series for 10 meter wind speed and 2 meter temperature (length dependent on region of purchase) | X | ||
| Time series for wind speed and temperature based on 4.5 km NWP model run | X | ||
| Uncertainty analysis | X | X | |
| Exceedance probability table | X | X | |
| Validation Report on the MOS-corrected irradiance time series compared to observations | X |
3TIER produced the first global solar irradiance map and time series dataset at roughly three times the resolution of previous US solar datasets and at thirty times the resolution of global datasets available from NASA. Based on over a decade of satellite imagery and cutting-edge technology, our uniform methodology is supported by a large scientific and research community and results in a consistent map and dataset, enabling more accurate point-to-point comparisons.
The dataset is based on actual, half-hourly, high-resolution visible satellite imagery observations via the broadband visible wavelength channel at a 2 arc minute resolution. These data have been processed to hourly GHI, DNI, and DIF values. 3TIER processes the satellite images based on a combination of in-house research and algorithms published in peer- reviewed scientific literature. These algorithms contain parameters and coefficients that are based on empirical fits to observational data. The specific satellites and length of time varies slightly by region due to differences in the availability of data from region to region. See the chart below for more details.
| Regions | Satellites | Temporal Coverage |
| Western Hemisphere | GOES 8 - 13 |
15 years (January 1997 - present) |
| South Asia & Middle East | Meteosat 5, Meteosat 7 |
13 years (January 1999 – last quarter) |
| East Asia & Oceania | GMS 5, GOES 9, MTSAT 1-2 |
13 years (December 1998 – present) |
| Europe & Africa | Meteosat 7, Meteosat 9 |
15 years (July 1998 – last quarter) |
To develop and validate our model, 3TIER used observations from:
Find our validation papers here.
In order for us to process this time series, you must provide the center latitude and longitude of your solar site.
If you are unfamiliar with the technical terminology on this page, please visit our Glossary for more information.
