Land Suitability Analysis for Solar Farms Exploitation Using GIS and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP)—A Case Study of Iran

Ehsan Noorollahi, Dawud Fadai, Mohsen Akbarpour Shirazi and Seyed Hassan Ghodsipour
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Ehsan Noorollahi: Industrial Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 424 Hafez Ave, Tehran 15916-34311, Iran
Dawud Fadai: Industrial Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 424 Hafez Ave, Tehran 15916-34311, Iran
Mohsen Akbarpour Shirazi: Industrial Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 424 Hafez Ave, Tehran 15916-34311, Iran
Seyed Hassan Ghodsipour: Industrial Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 424 Hafez Ave, Tehran 15916-34311, Iran

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 8, 1-24

Abstract: Considering the geographical location and climatic conditions of Iran, solar energy can provide a considerable portion of the energy demand for the country. This study develops a two-step framework. In the first step, the map of unsuitable regions is extracted based on the defined constraints. In the next step, in order to identify the suitability of different regions, 11 defined criteria, including solar radiation, average annual temperatures, distance from power transmission lines, distance from major roads, distance from residential area, elevation, slope, land use, average annual cloudy days, average annual humidity and average annual dusty days, are identified. The relative weights of defined criteria and sub-criteria are also determined applying fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) technique. Next, by overlaying these criteria layers, the final map of prioritization of different regions of Iran for exploiting solar photovoltaic (PV) plants is developed. Based on Iran’s political divisions, investigation and analysis of the results have been presented for a total of 1057 districts of the country, where each district stands in one of the five defined classes of excellent, good, fair, low, and poor level. The obtained data indicate that 14.7% (237,920 km 2 ), 17.2% (278,270 km 2 ), 19.2% (311,767 km 2 ), 11.3% (183,057 km 2 ), 1.8% (30,549 km 2 ) and 35.8% (580,264 km 2 ) of Iran’s area are positioned as excellent, good, fair, low, poor and unsuitable areas, respectively. Moreover, Kerman, Yazd, Fars, Sisitan and Baluchestan, Southern Khorasan and Isfahan are included in the regions as the most excellent suitable provinces for exploiting solar PV plants.

Keywords: land suitability; solar energy; PV; GIS; fuzzy AHP; spatial analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (53)

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