Primary Uses
- Utility-scale wind prospecting
- Community and utility-scale met tower siting
- Portfolio site comparison
- Initial project feasibility
- Power capacity estimates
- Residential and commercial scale site assessment and ROI analysis
To really have confidence in the value of a potential site, you need to understand both the wind and power behavior of your resource and how it will perform throughout the year.
Wind speed, air density, diameter of the rotor, and efficiencies of the turbine and electrical system affect the total amount of electricity that can be generated by a wind turbine. A good wind resource requires strong winds during times when the electricity demand or the electricity price is highest.
With easily interpreted figures and tables for annual, monthly, and diurnal variability, 3TIER's FirstLook Standard Report offers extensive information about your wind resource and power output potential providing insight on when to expect the highest wind speeds and the highest levels of energy generation. Our reports allow you to plan for seasonal variability and start making initial decisions about your specific wind site.
In addition to providing you with the information you need to make informed decisions, our reports offer a consistent approach to wind prospecting. When you are looking at multiple locations, how do you know that you are comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges? With 3TIER prospecting reports you have a seamless global dataset and a standardized set of reports, so you have a clear picture of the risks for every potential site in your portfolio.
Figure 1. Annual Wind Rose
Figure 2. Annual Average Diurnal Variability
Figure 3. Annual Average Power Histogram
| Standard Report | Professional Report | |
| Map of the surrounding area | X | X |
| Annual average wind speed (with error bars) | X | X |
| Monthly average wind speed variability (with error bars) | X | X |
| Annual average wind speed weibull histogram | X | X |
| Annual average diurnal wind speed variability (with error bars) | X | X |
| Monthly average diurnal wind speed variability | X | |
| Annual wind rose | X | X |
| Monthly wind roses | X | |
| Monthly average power variability* | X | X |
| Annual average power histogram (power capacity) | X | X |
| Annual power rose | X | X |
| Monthly power roses | X | |
| Annual average diurnal power variability | X | X |
| CSV (Comma-separated value) data file | X |
The difference between annual mean wind speed data provided by FirstLook Reports and actual on-site measurements from NCAR/NCEP reanalysis is less than 0.5 m/s at 50% of the observational stations and less than 1 m/s at 78% of the stations. The overall bias is +0.05 m/s relative to NCEP-ADP observations, and the RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) is 0.93 m/s. Find our validation papers here.
If you are unfamiliar with the technical terminology on this page, please visit our Glossary for more information.
