Determinant factors in site selection for photovoltaic projects: A systematic review

Abstract

The choice of great places for installation of solar power plants has become a key issue in terms of project planning because of the increased number of investments in the photovoltaic sector. This study is a systematic review of the literature that seeks to identify the determining factors in choosing the best location for solar photovoltaic power plants, through previous research on the application of renewable energy technologies in great contexts of location. Among a total of 130 academic studies filtered by the keywords “photovoltaic energy,” “power plants,” “location,” and “factor” on the bases ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE, a total of 27 studies were identified. These articles were carefully explored, including years of publication, countries of origin, and identification of factors that each author demonstrated. It has been extracted 28 factors, organized in six points of view: socioenvironmental, location, economic, political, climatic, and orographic. It was verified that the determining factors for choosing the best locations are solar irradiation, substation distance, slope, distance of roads, distance from urban areas, and land use. The results of this research may assist academic students and investors in identifying factors that they should consider in their decision making and may also assist in the efficient planning of renewable energy management to ensure the sustainable development of power generation through the photovoltaic source.