STTR Phase I: Matching the timing of renewable energy production with patterns of electricity demand

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I proposal we investigate the feasibility of a software application to search through public wind databases in order to match sites of renewable electricity production with sites of electricity demand. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are intermittent, but still have clear diurnal and seasonal patterns. This tool will analyze historic data to these patterns with those of electricity consumption, producing recommendations to help electric utilities find specific wind sites that best coincide with their patterns of electric load. Similar analytical techniques are used in the financial industry but have yet to be applied to renewable energy supplies in an affordable package that can be effectively employed by non-statisticians. The team draws on experts from different arenas statistics, finance, software, marketing and the power industry and will collaborate with the University of Wyoming. If successful, this tool will have a market for commercialization throughout the country. Future plans include incorporation of data from other renewable sources, addition of complexities from constraints of transmission, and estimation of increases in monetary value. If deployed, the tool will reduce the impact of intermittency on our electricity system simply through statistical analysis and encourage construction of wind and solar farms throughout rural America. In addition to the commercial considerations, effective application of this tool will provide a path toward decreased reliance on fossil fuels.