IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v241y2025ics0960148124023760.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal siting of large photovoltaic solar farms at Basrah governorate, Southern Iraq using hybrid GIS- based Entropy-TOPSIS and AHP-TOPSIS models

Author

Listed:
  • Al-Abadi, Alaa M.
  • Handhal, Amna M.
  • Abdulhasan, Mustafa A.
  • Ali, Wajdi L.
  • Hassan, J.J.
  • Al Aboodi, Ali H.

Abstract

This study employed the entropy weight method (EWM) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) with the technique for an order of preference by similarity to ideal solutions (TOPSIS) to identify optimal locations for photovoltaic (PV) solar farms using geographic information systems. Ten siting factors were considered, with solar radiation (PVout) being the most critical. Other key factors included land use/land cover (LULC), elevation, slope, aspect, and proximity to infrastructure and water sources. EWM assigned higher weights to PVout, elevation, slope, and groundwater storage, while AHP prioritized PVout, LULC, aspect, and slope. Ranked outputs from EWM-TOPSIS and AHP-TOPSIS were interpolated using inverse distance weighted (IDW), ordinary kriging (OK), and empirical Bayesian kriging (EBK), with EBK showing slightly higher accuracy. Using EBK, suitability maps classified areas into five levels: very low to very high. Validation against less suitable LULC categories confirmed EWM-TOPSIS as the optimal siting method, revealing that 38 % (4555 km2) of the study area is highly suitable for PV farms. These regions are primarily located in Basrah's southern Al-Fao district and northeastern Shatt Al-Arab district, demonstrating the area's potential for solar energy development.

Suggested Citation

  • Al-Abadi, Alaa M. & Handhal, Amna M. & Abdulhasan, Mustafa A. & Ali, Wajdi L. & Hassan, J.J. & Al Aboodi, Ali H., 2025. "Optimal siting of large photovoltaic solar farms at Basrah governorate, Southern Iraq using hybrid GIS- based Entropy-TOPSIS and AHP-TOPSIS models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:241:y:2025:i:c:s0960148124023760
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.122308
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148124023760
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2024.122308?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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Solar energy; TOPSIS; MCDM; Basrah; Iraq;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:241:y:2025:i:c:s0960148124023760. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.