Application of simultaneous evaluation of criteria and alternatives for prioritization of photovoltaic power plant location

Abstract

This research contributes to the ongoing efforts to transition towards clean and renewable energy sources by providing a practical framework for decision‐making in energy resource planning. Hence, a recently developed multi‐criteria decision making technique tool is proposed for simultaneous evaluation of criteria and alternatives (SECA) to find an optimal site for establishing photovoltaic power stations in Iran. The proposed SECA method provides a systematic and comprehensive approach to evaluating renewable energy resources, taking into account technical, economic, environmental, and social factors. The data required for this research has also been collected from the Global Solar Atlas as well as the Iran Meteoritical Organization. The results show that despite the main influence of the solar radiation factor, it should be noted that among all the climatic and environmental indicators, “cloudiness factor” by weight of 0.2339 and “annual temperature” by weight of 0.2320 have been selected as the most important criteria. It was also found that among the ten candidate cities, Zahedan (w = 0.8939), Shahrekord (w = 0.8341) and Kerman (w = 0.8112) have the highest potential for building a solar power plant. The results of the study highlight the potential for solar energy resources to meet Iran's electricity needs in a sustainable manner.