Geostellar Creates First Solar Energy Computation Platform

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Geostellar, which provides micro-local resource, capacity and market intelligence for sustainable energy producers around the world, today unveiled the first complete solar energy simulation platform for residential-, commercial- and utility-scale power generation.

The platform, which will be used by energy companies to determine solar power generation potential at any location, employs highly refined algorithms to model every meter of entire cities, counties, states, countries, and continents for rooftop and ground-based energy production opportunities.

"We believe this platform can support the rapid expansion of the solar power industry by automating site selection, engineering, design, financing and marketing functions across diverse urban and rural environments," said Matt Cheney, CEO of Clean Path Ventures (www.cleanpathventures.com), which provides technical and financial resources to large-scale renewable energy projects. "Geostellar can help energy producers, government officials, and others make effective decisions to increase profitability, strengthen their local economies and protect the environment."

Geostellar is currently piloting the platform with select solar power developers, public administrators, property owners, and utilities in the Midwest, Mid Atlantic and Southwest United States, with additional resources, regions, and applications to be launched in rapid succession.

The high-resolution energy data is delivered through standard Web services and interfaces, Google Earth, mobile devices and a full-featured Geographic Information System (GIS), making the right data and features available for a variety of applications in engineering, project development and finance.

"We believe 'Earth intelligence' is the human genome project of the new millennium," said David Levine, Geostellar's CEO. "As bioinformatics enabled biotech, big-data geomatics will support innovation in clean tech. Our integrated platform for production modeling, site search, project development, production, operations and trading will support a diverse base of industry stakeholders in identifying the fastest, most profitable and least-risky means of increasing our clean, green, and renewable energy supply."

The platform derives and processes data including incidental solar radiation, digital surface maps, tax parcel boundaries and assessed values, transmission lines and substations, critical habitat, flood plains, zoning, temperature and precipitation  -- all of the structural and financial assets needed to understand resource availability, access to markets, local marginal pricing, and regulatory factors that influence the success of energy production efforts. Geostellar applies advanced 3D animation techniques such as ray-tracing satellite-derived solar potential values over digital surface maps to precisely determine power output based on the slope of rooftops and terrain, and shadows from trees, structures and geological formations for a complete map of entire continents at a resolution below one square meter per pixel.

Geostellar has opened a research and development lab at Ben Franklin TechVentures®, an incubator/post-incubator facility operated by BFTP/NEP on Lehigh University's campus. The TechVentures lab will allow the company to apply its geomatic computation capabilities to simulate the availability of water and infrastructure in shale gas plays, provide high-resolution wind energy models and develop biofuel production strategies based on the availability of feedstocks and access to markets.

Development of the Geostellar platform was funded by clean tech industry investors and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/NEP) Alternative Energy Development Program.

About Geostellar
Geostellar provides comprehensive and precise computations of available solar, wind, hydro and biofuel energy resources, infrastructure and land for any geographic location based on atmosphere, physiography, infrastructure, policy and economics. Geostellar's subscription services platform empower energy producers, utilities, property owners, industry suppliers and public administrators to identify the fastest, most profitable and least risky paths to increasing the supply of clean, green and renewable power. Geostellar models the local availability of resources in high spatial and temporal resolution, then computes the proximity and capacity of infrastructure, regulations, land use and value, markets and economics to produce actionable, location-specific insights. The company's Earth intelligence can be searched and shared, providing a foundation of hard data for decision-making throughout the energy industry continuum, from planning through development, to production and trading. For more information visit http://www.geostellar.com or email [email protected].

About Ben Franklin Technology Partners

The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania is part of a four-center, state-funded economic development initiative that links companies with business and technical experts, universities, funding and other resources to help them prosper through innovation. The organization's strategy encompasses three key areas: developing early-stage, technology-oriented companies; helping established manufacturers creatively apply new technologies and business practices; and promoting an innovative community-wide infrastructure that fosters a favorable business environment for high-growth companies. The northeastern center is headquartered on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem. For more information visit http://nep.benfranklin.org/

About Ben Franklin TechVentures

Ben Franklin TechVentures is an award-winning technology-based incubator/post incubator facility that is owned and managed by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and located on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem. Ben Franklin TechVentures provides resident companies with the support of an experienced incubator staff, the synergy of working in proximity to other early-stage companies, rental costs lower than market rates, flexible floor planning to accommodate specific needs and access to Lehigh's facilities, equipment, faculty and student resources. These factors combine to greatly enhance incubator resident companies' probability of success. The facility expansion, Ben Franklin TechVentures(2), will add 47,000 square feet to the existing building, and will include wet labs, office/meeting space, and a parking deck. The addition will increase capacity to as many as 40 companies and 200 high-tech jobs, and will be a certified Leadership Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building. For more information visit http://nep.benfranklin.org/incubator-network/ben-franklin-techventures

SOURCE Geostellar