IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v206y2017icp1225-1240.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Solar PV power plant site selection using a GIS-AHP based approach with application in Saudi Arabia

Author

Listed:
  • Al Garni, Hassan Z.
  • Awasthi, Anjali

Abstract

Site selection for solar power plants is a critical issue for utility-size projects due to the significance of weather factors, proximity to facilities, and the presence of environmental protected areas. The primary goal of this research is to evaluate and select the best location for utility-scale solar PV projects using geographical information systems (GIS) and a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique. The model considers different aspects, such as economic and technical factors, with the goal of assuring maximum power achievement while minimizing project cost. An analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to weigh the criteria and compute a land suitability index (LSI) to evaluate potential sites. The LSI model groups sites into five categories: “least suitable,” “marginally suitable,” “moderately suitable,” “highly suitable” and “most suitable.” A case study for Saudi Arabia is provided. Real climatology and legislation data, such as roads, mountains, and protected areas, are utilized in the model. The solar analyst tool in ArcGIS software is employed to calculate the solar insolation across the entire study area using actual atmospheric parameters. The air temperature map was created from real dispersed monitoring sensors across Saudi Arabia using interpolation. The overlaid result map showed that 16% (300,000 km2) of the study area is promising and suitable for deploying utility-size PV power plants while the most suitable areas to be in the north and northwest of the Saudi Arabia. It has been found that suitable lands are following the pattern of the approximate range of the proximity to main roads, transmission lines, and urban cities. More than 80% of the suitable areas had a moderate to high LSI. The integration of the GIS with MCDM methods has emerged as a highly useful technique to systematically deal with rich geographical information data and vast area as well as manipulate criteria importance towards introducing the best sites for solar power plants.

Suggested Citation

  • Al Garni, Hassan Z. & Awasthi, Anjali, 2017. "Solar PV power plant site selection using a GIS-AHP based approach with application in Saudi Arabia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1225-1240.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:206:y:2017:i:c:p:1225-1240
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626191731437X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alawaji, Saleh H., 2001. "Evaluation of solar energy research and its applications in Saudi Arabia -- 20 years of experience," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 59-77, March.
    2. Rehman, Shafiqur & Bader, Maher A. & Al-Moallem, Said A., 2007. "Cost of solar energy generated using PV panels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 11(8), pages 1843-1857, October.
    3. Qianna Wang & Martin Mwirigi M'Ikiugu & Isami Kinoshita, 2014. "A GIS-Based Approach in Support of Spatial Planning for Renewable Energy: A Case Study of Fukushima, Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-31, April.
    4. Gherboudj, Imen & Ghedira, Hosni, 2016. "Assessment of solar energy potential over the United Arab Emirates using remote sensing and weather forecast data," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1210-1224.
    5. Sindhu, Sonal & Nehra, Vijay & Luthra, Sunil, 2017. "Investigation of feasibility study of solar farms deployment using hybrid AHP-TOPSIS analysis: Case study of India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 496-511.
    6. Sabo, Mahmoud Lurwan & Mariun, Norman & Hizam, Hashim & Mohd Radzi, Mohd Amran & Zakaria, Azmi, 2017. "Spatial matching of large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power generation with utility demand in Peninsular Malaysia," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 663-688.
    7. Janke, Jason R., 2010. "Multicriteria GIS modeling of wind and solar farms in Colorado," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2228-2234.
    8. Wang, Jiang-Jiang & Jing, You-Yin & Zhang, Chun-Fa & Zhao, Jun-Hong, 2009. "Review on multi-criteria decision analysis aid in sustainable energy decision-making," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2263-2278, December.
    9. Lin, Zhiting & Wu, Xiaoqing & He, Dongyue & Zhu, Qiang & Ni, Jixiang, 2016. "Analyzing and modeling heterogeneous behavior," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 450(C), pages 287-293.
    10. Almarshoud, A.F., 2016. "Performance of solar resources in Saudi Arabia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 694-701.
    11. Meryem Tahri & Mustapha Hakdaoui & Mohamed Maanan, 2015. "The evaluation of solar farm locations applying Geographic Information System and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods: Case study in southern Morocco," Post-Print hal-01185533, HAL.
    12. Höfer, Tim & Sunak, Yasin & Siddique, Hafiz & Madlener, Reinhard, 2016. "Wind farm siting using a spatial Analytic Hierarchy Process approach: A case study of the Städteregion Aachen," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 222-243.
    13. Choudhary, Devendra & Shankar, Ravi, 2012. "An STEEP-fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS framework for evaluation and selection of thermal power plant location: A case study from India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 510-521.
    14. Amy H. I. Lee & He-Yau Kang & Chun-Yu Lin & Kuan-Chin Shen, 2015. "An Integrated Decision-Making Model for the Location of a PV Solar Plant," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-20, September.
    15. Carrión, J. Arán & Espín Estrella, A. & Aznar Dols, F. & Ridao, A. Ramos, 2008. "The electricity production capacity of photovoltaic power plants and the selection of solar energy sites in Andalusia (Spain)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 545-552.
    16. Sánchez-Lozano, J.M. & García-Cascales, M.S. & Lamata, M.T., 2016. "GIS-based onshore wind farm site selection using Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making methods. Evaluating the case of Southeastern Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 86-102.
    17. Jangwon Suh & Jeffrey R. S. Brownson, 2016. "Solar Farm Suitability Using Geographic Information System Fuzzy Sets and Analytic Hierarchy Processes: Case Study of Ulleung Island, Korea," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-24, August.
    18. Huang, J.P. & Poh, K.L. & Ang, B.W., 1995. "Decision analysis in energy and environmental modeling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 20(9), pages 843-855.
    19. Rogeau, A. & Girard, R. & Kariniotakis, G., 2017. "A generic GIS-based method for small Pumped Hydro Energy Storage (PHES) potential evaluation at large scale," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 241-253.
    20. Hepbasli, Arif & Alsuhaibani, Zeyad, 2011. "A key review on present status and future directions of solar energy studies and applications in Saudi Arabia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 5021-5050.
    21. Fthenakis, Vasilis & Kim, Hyung Chul, 2009. "Land use and electricity generation: A life-cycle analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1465-1474, August.
    22. Lin, Hsiou-Wei William & Lo, Huai-Chun & Wu, Ruei-Shian, 2016. "Modeling default prediction with earnings management," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(PB), pages 306-322.
    23. Charabi, Yassine & Gastli, Adel, 2011. "PV site suitability analysis using GIS-based spatial fuzzy multi-criteria evaluation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 2554-2561.
    24. Amy H. I. Lee & He-Yau Kang & You-Jyun Liou, 2017. "A Hybrid Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making Approach for Photovoltaic Solar Plant Location Selection," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-21, January.
    25. Anwarzai, Mohammad Abed & Nagasaka, Ken, 2017. "Utility-scale implementable potential of wind and solar energies for Afghanistan using GIS multi-criteria decision analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 150-160.
    26. Løken, Espen, 2007. "Use of multicriteria decision analysis methods for energy planning problems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 11(7), pages 1584-1595, September.
    27. Gastli, Adel & Charabi, Yassine & Zekri, Slim, 2010. "GIS-based assessment of combined CSP electric power and seawater desalination plant for Duqum--Oman," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 821-827, February.
    28. Sánchez-Lozano, Juan M. & Henggeler Antunes, Carlos & García-Cascales, M. Socorro & Dias, Luis C., 2014. "GIS-based photovoltaic solar farms site selection using ELECTRE-TRI: Evaluating the case for Torre Pacheco, Murcia, Southeast of Spain," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 478-494.
    29. Jun, Dong & Tian-tian, Feng & Yi-sheng, Yang & Yu, Ma, 2014. "Macro-site selection of wind/solar hybrid power station based on ELECTRE-II," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 194-204.
    30. Tahri, Meryem & Hakdaoui, Mustapha & Maanan, Mohamed, 2015. "The evaluation of solar farm locations applying Geographic Information System and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making methods: Case study in southern Morocco," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1354-1362.
    31. Angelamaria Massimo & Marco Dell'Isola & Andrea Frattolillo & Giorgio Ficco, 2014. "Development of a Geographical Information System (GIS) for the Integration of Solar Energy in the Energy Planning of a Wide Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-15, August.
    32. Elkarmi, Fawwaz & Mustafa, Isam, 1993. "Increasing the utilization of solar energy technologies (SET) in Jordan : Analytic hierarchy process," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(9), pages 978-984, September.
    33. Aly, Ahmed & Jensen, Steen Solvang & Pedersen, Anders Branth, 2017. "Solar power potential of Tanzania: Identifying CSP and PV hot spots through a GIS multicriteria decision making analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 159-175.
    34. Candelise, Chiara & Winskel, Mark & Gross, Robert J.K., 2013. "The dynamics of solar PV costs and prices as a challenge for technology forecasting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 96-107.
    35. Pohekar, S. D. & Ramachandran, M., 2004. "Application of multi-criteria decision making to sustainable energy planning--A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 365-381, August.
    36. Doljak, Dejan & Stanojević, Gorica, 2017. "Evaluation of natural conditions for site selection of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants in Serbia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 291-300.
    37. Xu, Jiuping & Song, Xiaoling & Wu, Yimin & Zeng, Ziqiang, 2015. "GIS-modelling based coal-fired power plant site identification and selection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 520-539.
    38. Sánchez-Lozano, Juan M. & Teruel-Solano, Jerónimo & Soto-Elvira, Pedro L. & Socorro García-Cascales, M., 2013. "Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods for the evaluation of solar farms locations: Case study in south-eastern Spain," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 544-556.
    39. Uyan, Mevlut, 2013. "GIS-based solar farms site selection using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in Karapinar region, Konya/Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 11-17.
    40. James E. H. Davidson & David B. Stephenson & Alemtsehai A. Turasie, 2016. "Time series modeling of paleoclimate data," Environmetrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 55-65, February.
    41. Xianglin Li & K. T. Chau & Yubin Wang, 2016. "Modeling of a Field-Modulated Permanent-Magnet Machine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, December.
    42. Li, Xian & Liu, Shuai & Tan, Kok Kiong & Wang, Qing-Guo & Cai, Wen-Jian & Xie, Lihua, 2016. "Dynamic modeling of a liquid desiccant dehumidifier," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 435-445.
    43. Arán Carrión, J. & Espín Estrella, A. & Aznar Dols, F. & Zamorano Toro, M. & Rodríguez, M. & Ramos Ridao, A., 2008. "Environmental decision-support systems for evaluating the carrying capacity of land areas: Optimal site selection for grid-connected photovoltaic power plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(9), pages 2358-2380, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shao, Meng & Han, Zhixin & Sun, Jinwei & Xiao, Chengsi & Zhang, Shulei & Zhao, Yuanxu, 2020. "A review of multi-criteria decision making applications for renewable energy site selection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 377-403.
    2. Sultan Al-Shammari & Wonsuk Ko & Essam A. Al Ammar & Majed A. Alotaibi & Hyeong-Jin Choi, 2021. "Optimal Decision-Making in Photovoltaic System Selection in Saudi Arabia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Finn, Thomas & McKenzie, Paul, 2020. "A high-resolution suitability index for solar farm location in complex landscapes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 520-533.
    4. Shorabeh, Saman Nadizadeh & Firozjaei, Mohammad Karimi & Nematollahi, Omid & Firozjaei, Hamzeh Karimi & Jelokhani-Niaraki, Mohammadreza, 2019. "A risk-based multi-criteria spatial decision analysis for solar power plant site selection in different climates: A case study in Iran," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 958-973.
    5. Saeidi, Reza & Noorollahi, Younes & Aghaz, Javad & Chang, Soowon, 2023. "FUZZY-TOPSIS method for defining optimal parameters and finding suitable sites for PV power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    6. Saraswat, S.K. & Digalwar, Abhijeet K. & Yadav, S.S. & Kumar, Gaurav, 2021. "MCDM and GIS based modelling technique for assessment of solar and wind farm locations in India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 865-884.
    7. Firozjaei, Mohammad Karimi & Nematollahi, Omid & Mijani, Naeim & Shorabeh, Saman Nadizadeh & Firozjaei, Hamzeh Karimi & Toomanian, Ara, 2019. "An integrated GIS-based Ordered Weighted Averaging analysis for solar energy evaluation in Iran: Current conditions and future planning," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 1130-1146.
    8. Majumdar, Debaleena & Pasqualetti, Martin J., 2019. "Analysis of land availability for utility-scale power plants and assessment of solar photovoltaic development in the state of Arizona, USA," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 1213-1231.
    9. Rogna, Marco, 2020. "A first-phase screening method for site selection of large-scale solar plants with an application to Italy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. Hossein Yousefi & Hamed Hafeznia & Amin Yousefi-Sahzabi, 2018. "Spatial Site Selection for Solar Power Plants Using a GIS-Based Boolean-Fuzzy Logic Model: A Case Study of Markazi Province, Iran," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, June.
    11. Aly, Ahmed & Jensen, Steen Solvang & Pedersen, Anders Branth, 2017. "Solar power potential of Tanzania: Identifying CSP and PV hot spots through a GIS multicriteria decision making analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 159-175.
    12. Lindberg, O. & Birging, A. & Widén, J. & Lingfors, D., 2021. "PV park site selection for utility-scale solar guides combining GIS and power flow analysis: A case study on a Swedish municipality," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    13. Yushchenko, Alisa & de Bono, Andrea & Chatenoux, Bruno & Kumar Patel, Martin & Ray, Nicolas, 2018. "GIS-based assessment of photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) generation potential in West Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2088-2103.
    14. Yılmaz, Kutay & Dinçer, Ali Ersin & Ayhan, Elif N., 2023. "Exploring flood and erosion risk indices for optimal solar PV site selection and assessing the influence of topographic resolution," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    15. Rios, R. & Duarte, S., 2021. "Selection of ideal sites for the development of large-scale solar photovoltaic projects through Analytical Hierarchical Process – Geographic information systems (AHP-GIS) in Peru," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    16. Sánchez-Lozano, J.M. & García-Cascales, M.S. & Lamata, M.T., 2014. "Identification and selection of potential sites for onshore wind farms development in Region of Murcia, Spain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 311-324.
    17. Sindhu, Sonal & Nehra, Vijay & Luthra, Sunil, 2017. "Investigation of feasibility study of solar farms deployment using hybrid AHP-TOPSIS analysis: Case study of India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 496-511.
    18. Jesús A. Prieto-Amparán & Alfredo Pinedo-Alvarez & Carlos R. Morales-Nieto & María C. Valles-Aragón & Alan Álvarez-Holguín & Federico Villarreal-Guerrero, 2021. "A Regional GIS-Assisted Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Site-Suitability for the Development of Solar Farms," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Sabo, Mahmoud Lurwan & Mariun, Norman & Hizam, Hashim & Mohd Radzi, Mohd Amran & Zakaria, Azmi, 2016. "Spatial energy predictions from large-scale photovoltaic power plants located in optimal sites and connected to a smart grid in Peninsular Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 79-94.
    20. Jalil Heidary Dahooie & Ali Husseinzadeh Kashan & Zahra Shoaei Naeini & Amir Salar Vanaki & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Zenonas Turskis, 2022. "A Hybrid Multi-Criteria-Decision-Making Aggregation Method and Geographic Information System for Selecting Optimal Solar Power Plants in Iran," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:206:y:2017:i:c:p:1225-1240. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.