Page 84 - Advances in Renewable Energies and Power Technologies

CHAPTER

Solar PV Power Plants Site

Selection: A Review 2

Hassan Z. Al Garni, Anjali Awasthi
Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, Concordia University,
Montreal, QC, Canada

CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Introduction to Solar Photovoltaic Land Suitability ................................................. 57
1.1 Multicriteria Decision-Making Techniques for Photovoltaic Site Selection .. 58
1.2 Geographical Information System ........................................................... 64
1.3 Dealing With Uncertainties in Photovoltaic Site Selection......................... 65
2. Criteria for Site Selection ..................................................................................... 65
3. Restriction Factors and Unsuitable Sites................................................................ 68
4. Conclusions and Future Works.............................................................................. 69
Acknowledgments..................................................................................................... 70
References ............................................................................................................... 70

1. INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC
LAND SUITABILITY

Compared to other renewable energy sources (RES), solar energy is a low-density
power supply that necessitates vast areas for exploitation. Also, solar photovoltaic
(PV) technology has enormous potential for deployment where the amount of global
solar radiation per year is very high. However, one of the barriers to solar power devel-
opment is the inconsistency and variability of solar irradiation which can be geograph-
ically dissimilar from one site to another. Selecting a suitable site is a crucial step
toward developing a feasible utility-scale solar PV project. Though, the utility-scale
PV considered as large-scale PV projects which can generate at least 5 MW [1,2].
Throughout solar energy research, a common question exists: What is the
optimal site for utility-size solar PV? Performing a comprehensive solar site analysis
is the first step toward ensuring a cost-effective and well-performing solar project. In
general, the process must consider decision criteria as well as restriction factors that
need to be assessed owing to their positive or negative impacts on the performance
and cost of the electricity generated. Moreover, knowing the potential sites is a stra-
tegic primarily milestone for annual power plant output prediction as well as finan-
cial viability [3].

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Advances in Renewable Energies and Power Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812959-3.00002-2
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