IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v237y2024ipcs096014812401855x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach for identifying optimal solar farm locations: A multi-technique comparative analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Shehab, Zakariya Nafi'
  • Faisal, Raid Mahmood
  • Ahmed, Safwa Waleed

Abstract

This study explores the spatial suitability for solar farm placement using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques (ArcGIS Pro 3.0.2) coupled with Muti-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods. Nine evaluation criteria significantly impacting solar farm placement in Erbil, Iraq were selected, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was utilized to assign proper weights to these criteria. Suitability maps were derived and classified using three MCDM methods: Weighted Overlay (WO), TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), and SAW (Simple Additive Weighting) to establish comparisons. Discrepancies were noticeable between the outcomes of these methods, with distinctions observable across most categories. The validation process illustrated superior performance by SAW model, closely followed by TOPSIS model, while the weighted overlay model showed significant differences. The southeastern region of Erbil governorate was identified as the most suitable area for solar farm construction due to favorable criteria values and potential for future expansion. This approach massively facilitates locating and evaluating ideal areas for solar farm construction, thereby minimizing the time, financial resources, and efforts dedicated towards this endeavor.

Suggested Citation

  • Shehab, Zakariya Nafi' & Faisal, Raid Mahmood & Ahmed, Safwa Waleed, 2024. "Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approach for identifying optimal solar farm locations: A multi-technique comparative analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:237:y:2024:i:pc:s096014812401855x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.121787
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014812401855X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2024.121787?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. 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.
    2. Bijay Halder & Papiya Banik & Hussein Almohamad & Ahmed Abdullah Al Dughairi & Motrih Al-Mutiry & Haya Falah Al Shahrani & Hazem Ghassan Abdo, 2022. "Land Suitability Investigation for Solar Power Plant Using GIS, AHP and Multi-Criteria Decision Approach: A Case of Megacity Kolkata, West Bengal, India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-21, September.
    3. 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).
    4. Keroglou, I. & Tsoutsos, T., 2024. "Optimal siting of solar desalination plants in Crete, Greece employing a GIS/MCDM approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    5. Doorga, Jay R.S. & Rughooputh, Soonil D.D.V. & Boojhawon, Ravindra, 2019. "Multi-criteria GIS-based modelling technique for identifying potential solar farm sites: A case study in Mauritius," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 1201-1219.
    6. Seker, Sukran & Kahraman, Cengiz, 2021. "Socio-economic evaluation model for sustainable solar PV panels using a novel integrated MCDM methodology: A case in Turkey," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Coruhlu, Yakup Emre & Solgun, Necmettin & Baser, Volkan & Terzi, Fatih, 2022. "Revealing the solar energy potential by integration of GIS and AHP in order to compare decisions of the land use on the environmental plans," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Best, Rohan & Chareunsy, Andrea, 2022. "The impact of income on household solar panel uptake: Exploring diverse results using Australian data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    9. Li, Xiao-Ya & Dong, Xin-Yu & Chen, Sha & Ye, Yan-Mei, 2024. "The promising future of developing large-scale PV solar farms in China: A three-stage framework for site selection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    10. Ghenai, Chaouki & Albawab, Mona & Bettayeb, Maamar, 2020. "Sustainability indicators for renewable energy systems using multi-criteria decision-making model and extended SWARA/ARAS hybrid method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 580-597.
    11. Noorollahi, Younes & Ghenaatpisheh Senani, Ali & Fadaei, Ahmad & Simaee, Mobina & Moltames, Rahim, 2022. "A framework for GIS-based site selection and technical potential evaluation of PV solar farm using Fuzzy-Boolean logic and AHP multi-criteria decision-making approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 89-104.
    12. Raza, Muhammad Ali & Yousif, Muhammad & Hassan, Muhammad & Numan, Muhammad & Abbas Kazmi, Syed Ali, 2023. "Site suitability for solar and wind energy in developing countries using combination of GIS- AHP; a case study of Pakistan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 180-191.
    13. Islam, Md. Rabiul & Aziz, Md. Tareq & Alauddin, Mohammed & Kader, Zarjes & Islam, Md. Rakibul, 2024. "Site suitability assessment for solar power plants in Bangladesh: A GIS-based analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    14. Giamalaki, Marina & Tsoutsos, Theocharis, 2019. "Sustainable siting of solar power installations in Mediterranean using a GIS/AHP approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 64-75.
    15. José Eduardo Tafula & Constantino Dário Justo & Pedro Moura & Jérôme Mendes & Ana Soares, 2023. "Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach for Optimum Site Selection for Off-Grid Solar Photovoltaic Microgrids in Mozambique," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-41, March.
    16. Ahadi, Pedram & Fakhrabadi, Farbod & Pourshaghaghy, Alireza & Kowsary, Farshad, 2023. "Optimal site selection for a solar power plant in Iran via the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    17. 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.
    18. Fida Ali & Adul Bennui & Shahariar Chowdhury & Kuaanan Techato, 2022. "Suitable Site Selection for Solar-Based Green Hydrogen in Southern Thailand Using GIS-MCDM Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-22, May.
    19. Alami Merrouni, Ahmed & Elwali Elalaoui, Fakhreddine & Mezrhab, Ahmed & Mezrhab, Abdelhamid & Ghennioui, Abdellatif, 2018. "Large scale PV sites selection by combining GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process. Case study: Eastern Morocco," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 863-873.
    20. Jung, Jaehoon & Han, SangUk & Kim, Byungil, 2019. "Digital numerical map-oriented estimation of solar energy potential for site selection of photovoltaic solar panels on national highway slopes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 57-68.
    21. Colak, H. Ebru & Memisoglu, Tugba & Gercek, Yasin, 2020. "Optimal site selection for solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants using GIS and AHP: A case study of Malatya Province, Turkey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 565-576.
    22. Xu, Ye & Li, Ye & Zheng, Lijun & Cui, Liang & Li, Sha & Li, Wei & Cai, Yanpeng, 2020. "Site selection of wind farms using GIS and multi-criteria decision making method in Wafangdian, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    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. Yilmaz, İsmail & Kocer, Abdulkadir & Aksoy, Ercument, 2024. "Site selection for solar power plants using GIS and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process: Case study of the western mediterranean region of Turkiye," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    2. Elkadeem, M.R. & Younes, Ali & Sharshir, Swellam W. & Campana, Pietro Elia & Wang, Shaorong, 2021. "Sustainable siting and design optimization of hybrid renewable energy system: A geospatial multi-criteria analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    3. Li, Xiao-Ya & Dong, Xin-Yu & Chen, Sha & Ye, Yan-Mei, 2024. "The promising future of developing large-scale PV solar farms in China: A three-stage framework for site selection," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    4. Elkadeem, Mohamed R. & Younes, Ali & Mazzeo, Domenico & Jurasz, Jakub & Elia Campana, Pietro & Sharshir, Swellam W. & Alaam, Mohamed A., 2022. "Geospatial-assisted multi-criterion analysis of solar and wind power geographical-technical-economic potential assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    5. Bimal Kumar Dora & Sunil Bhat & Arghya Mitra & Damien Ernst & Adrian Halinka & Daria Zychma & Pawel Sowa, 2025. "The Global Electricity Grid: A Comprehensive Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-40, February.
    6. Dimitra G. Vagiona, 2021. "Comparative Multicriteria Analysis Methods for Ranking Sites for Solar Farm Deployment: A Case Study in Greece," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-23, December.
    7. Sahoo, Somadutta & Zuidema, Christian & van Stralen, Joost N.P. & Sijm, Jos & Faaij, André, 2022. "Detailed spatial analysis of renewables’ potential and heat: A study of Groningen Province in the northern Netherlands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    8. Shorabeh, Saman Nadizadeh & Samany, Najmeh Neysani & Minaei, Foad & Firozjaei, Hamzeh Karimi & Homaee, Mehdi & Boloorani, Ali Darvishi, 2022. "A decision model based on decision tree and particle swarm optimization algorithms to identify optimal locations for solar power plants construction in Iran," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 56-67.
    9. 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).
    10. Geovanna Villacreses & Diego Jijón & Juan Francisco Nicolalde & Javier Martínez-Gómez & Franz Betancourt, 2022. "Multicriteria Decision Analysis of Suitable Location for Wind and Photovoltaic Power Plants on the Galápagos Islands," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-23, December.
    11. Hosseini Dehshiri, Seyyed Shahabaddin & Firoozabadi, Bahar, 2022. "A new application of measurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution (MARCOS) in solar site location for electricity and hydrogen production: A case study in the southern clim," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    12. Lv, Furong & Tang, Haiping, 2024. "Sustainable photovoltaic power generation spatial planning through ecosystem service valuation: A case study of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    13. Tercan, Emre & Eymen, Abdurrahman & Urfalı, Tuğrul & Saracoglu, Burak Omer, 2021. "A sustainable framework for spatial planning of photovoltaic solar farms using GIS and multi-criteria assessment approach in Central Anatolia, Turkey," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    14. Hosseini Dehshiri, Seyyed Shahabaddin & Firoozabadi, Bahar, 2023. "A novel four-stage integrated GIS based fuzzy SWARA approach for solar site suitability with hydrogen storage system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    15. Günen, Mehmet Akif, 2021. "A comprehensive framework based on GIS-AHP for the installation of solar PV farms in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 212-225.
    16. Barbón, A. & Bayón-Cueli, C. & Bayón, L. & Carreira-Fontao, V., 2022. "A methodology for an optimal design of ground-mounted photovoltaic power plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    17. Kocabaldır, Canan & Yücel, Mehmet Ali, 2023. "GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis for spatial planning of solar photovoltaic power plants in Çanakkale province, Turkey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 455-467.
    18. Li, Xiaoya & Dong, Xinyu & Ye, Yanmei, 2024. "An interaction model applied to optimize photovoltaic farm location: A case study of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    19. Hossein Yousefi & Saheb Ghanbari Motlagh & Mohammad Montazeri, 2022. "Multi-Criteria Decision-Making System for Wind Farm Site-Selection Using Geographic Information System (GIS): Case Study of Semnan Province, Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-27, June.
    20. Sward, Jeffrey A. & Nilson, Roberta S. & Katkar, Venktesh V. & Stedman, Richard C. & Kay, David L. & Ifft, Jennifer E. & Zhang, K. Max, 2021. "Integrating social considerations in multicriteria decision analysis for utility-scale solar photovoltaic siting," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).

    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:renene:v:237:y:2024:i:pc:s096014812401855x. 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.