TY - JOUR
T1 - Suitability analysis of solar photovoltaic farms
T2 - A Portuguese case study
AU - Rodrigues, Sara
AU - Coelho, Mário Baptista
AU - Cabral, Pedro
N1 - Rodrigues, S., Coelho, M. B., & Cabral, P. (2017). Suitability analysis of solar photovoltaic farms: A Portuguese case study. International Journal of Renewable Energy Research (IJRER), 7(1), 244-254.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The threat that burning fossil fuels poses to global warming is forcing society to look for renewable energy solutions. Among these, the use of solar energy has a high potential for growth in the current international energy mix. It is important to provide information to decision-makers that deal with the installation of new production facilities. This study combines Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques to assess the land suitability for the installation of solar farms in the municipality of Ourique in the South of Portugal. Several exclusionary constraints and weighting factors were used in the modelling process with the help of expert knowledge and an extensive literature review. Results show that approximately 21% of the area is classified as "highly suitable" for installing solar farms. These results are in line with the existing and planned photovoltaic (PV) projects in the region, which are mostly located in "medium" or "medium to high" suitable areas. This approach can easily be adapted to include different criteria and/or different weights to deliver information to managers, helping them in the decision regarding locating solar farms.
AB - The threat that burning fossil fuels poses to global warming is forcing society to look for renewable energy solutions. Among these, the use of solar energy has a high potential for growth in the current international energy mix. It is important to provide information to decision-makers that deal with the installation of new production facilities. This study combines Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques to assess the land suitability for the installation of solar farms in the municipality of Ourique in the South of Portugal. Several exclusionary constraints and weighting factors were used in the modelling process with the help of expert knowledge and an extensive literature review. Results show that approximately 21% of the area is classified as "highly suitable" for installing solar farms. These results are in line with the existing and planned photovoltaic (PV) projects in the region, which are mostly located in "medium" or "medium to high" suitable areas. This approach can easily be adapted to include different criteria and/or different weights to deliver information to managers, helping them in the decision regarding locating solar farms.
KW - Geographic Information Systems
KW - Multi-criteria Evaluation
KW - Ourique
KW - Photovoltaic potential
KW - Site Suitability
KW - Solar energy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029521058&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85029521058
VL - 7
SP - 244
EP - 254
JO - International Journal of Renewable Energy Research
JF - International Journal of Renewable Energy Research
IS - 1
ER -