Third-party licensing now available for industry's leading wind and solar datasets

SEATTLE (May 4, 2009) - 3TIER today announced the launch of an application programming interface called FirstLook API. This new service provides the technical mechanism and licensing rights for third parties to integrate 3TIER's industry-leading wind and solar resource datasets into their own operations and customer experiences. These scientifically derived datasets were developed as the foundation for 3TIER's FirstLook Prospecting, an award-winning, free online tool that provides access to initial solar and wind resource data through dynamic, clickable high-resolution maps.

"FirstLook Prospecting is already the 'go-to' sales tool for residential, commercial and utility-scale renewable energy installers and manufacturers," said Kenneth Westrick, CEO and founder of 3TIER, the global leader in renewable energy assessment and forecasting information. "It enables renewable energy companies to better educate their own customers on the value of their onsite wind and solar resources, inform hardware and installation decisions, and calculate returns on investment.

"The FirstLook API offers access to the initial wind and solar assessment data that is available through FirstLook Prospecting, as well as extended datasets that are not publically available. Companies can use the FirstLook API to integrate these datasets into their own customer experiences, developing added value and more complex applications tailored to the needs of their customers."

To learn more about the FirstLook API visit: http://firstlook.3tier.com.

Extended datasets available through the FirstLook API include average annual wind power density, and monthly average wind speed, temperature, air density and power density. For solar resource information, extended datasets include annual and monthly DNI, GHI and diffuse irradiance values.

"With the FirstLook API, companies have access to wind resource data for any location worldwide and solar resource data for any location in the Western Hemisphere," said Christian Sarason, FirstLook product manager. "The FirstLook API gives companies the power to utilize the most accurate, consistent and comprehensive datasets ever created as part of their own customer engagement, while retaining the credibility of 3TIER's scientifically derived, third party resource information."

The FirstLook API enables clients to develop personal applications that integrate renewable resource information into tools that facilitate the decision-making process, such as internal and customer-facing sales tools, product selection tools, project design tools, and financial modeling tools.

"By plugging into the power of FirstLook, companies can provide their clients with the most dependable resource information available and ultimately shorten the process of determining where to invest in renewable power," Sarason said.

3TIER is a recipient of the American Wind Energy Association's 2009 Awards, honoring wind industry leaders for outstanding efforts on behalf of wind energy. FirstLook Prospecting was recognized for its commercial achievement and contribution to the wind industry through the development of free wind and solar prospecting and assessment data for developers, manufacturers and landowners. There are currently more than 30,000 registered FirstLook Prospecting users worldwide.
In addition to FirstLook, 3TIER provides a full suite of assessment and forecasting products for wind, hydro, and solar energy projects. 3TIER uses its knowledge about weather, climate, and their impacts on weather-driven renewable energy resources to help clients make better decisions about their investments - before, during, and after projects are built.
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ABOUT 3TIER

Founded in 1999, Seattle-based 3TIER is one of the largest independent providers of wind, solar and hydro energy assessment and power forecasting worldwide. People around the world turn to 3TIER when they want the best scientific information to make decisions about renewable energy projects — from the prospecting stage to operations. For more information, visit 3tier.com.


CONTACT: Evan Scandling
(206) 239-0164
escandling@apcoworldwide.com