Vaisala Energy Support
Why does the data not match my observations?
There are a number of reasons why values measured with ground-based instruments may not match our estimates. For example, your location may have highly reflective terrain making it difficult to distinguish from clouds in our satellite-derived values (please see “How accurate are the Solar Prospecting Tools?” for more details). Your location may also be affected by long-term climatic patterns, making your short-term observations indicate higher or lower irradiance values than our estimated average values, which take a longer period of time into consideration.
Unlike many competing products that are available, 3TIER has the ability to reprocess the satellite imagery used to create the data provided by the Solar Prospecting Tools for nearly any location worldwide. This allows 3TIER to customize and tune our processing algorithms to your solar observational data, nearly eliminating model bias, and providing a historical context for your data extending as far back as 13 years. The incorporation of your observational data results in superior accuracy and allows you to obtain a comprehensive understanding of your resource and the opportunities and risks related to solar energy development at your project location.
If you are interested in more detailed information on how 3TIER can incorporate your observational data into our modeled values as part of a FullView Solar Site Resource Assessment, please contact us.
More Solar Online Tools Questions
- How do I enter a location?
- What's the latest month available in the solar time series tool?
- What is the Data Shown in the Solar Time Series Viewer?
- What updates were applied to the datasets in November 2019?
- Which weather data source should I pick?
- What do the Annual Mean Irradiance Tools provide?
- How do I interpret the graphs provided by the Monthly Mean Irradiance Tools?
- What solar values are shown on the map?
- Why do we show a +/- next to the annual values?
- What is Global Horizontal Irradiance?
- How can I compare sites side-by-side?
- What is Direct Normal Irradiance?
- How do I change locations for individual tools?
- What is Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance?
- Why does the map disappear?
- What are the units of irradiance?
- What affects solar radiation at a given site?
- How much area is covered by the Solar Prospecting Tools?
- How accurate are the Solar Prospecting Tools?
- What data has been created?
- How was the data behind your map created?
- How do I convert the 3TIER values to peak sun hours?
- What were 3TIER's solar data validation procedures?
If you didn't find what you were looking for, please contact 3TIER Support for additional assistance.