Solar energy potential assessment: A framework to integrate geographic, technological, and economic indices for a potential analysis

Yuhu Zhang, Jing Ren, Yanru Pu and Peng Wang

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 149, issue C, 577-586

Abstract: To develop solar energy as a primary source of electricity supply in China, it is imperative to also develop an overall and complete solar energy potential analysis. Such an analysis technique would be a substantial contribution to solar power generation development both nationally and regionally. This study analyzes the spatial and temporal distribution of solar energy in China and estimates the solar energy potential from three aspects: geography, technology, and economy. The results of this research showed that the solar energy resource in China is substantially rich and stable, but also has notable spatial heterogeneity. A potential estimation indicated that Xinjiang Province was the most optimal site for large-scale photovoltaic station construction, displaying the highest values for all three potentials. It was also found that solar energy potential in western China is greater, while the eastern region is less suitable for solar photovoltaic development. These results can provide support for the large-scale development and utilization of solar energy resources in the future.

Keywords: Solar energy potential; Temporal and spatial analysis; Constraint analysis; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (44)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148119319433
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:149:y:2020:i:c:p:577-586

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2019.12.071

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().