Mechanisms for Choosing PV Locations That Allow for the Most Sustainable Usage of Solar Energy

Abstract

The electrical power need in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been escalating at a rapid rate of about 7.5% annually. It has the third highest usage rate in the world as stated by World Energy Council statistics. The rising energy demand has a significant impact on the country’s economy since oil is considered to be its mainstay. Additionally, conventional energy production using fossil fuels is a leading contributor to ecological degradation and adversely influences human health. As a result, Saudi Arabia has taken significant steps to shift from its current status of total reliance on oil to new frontiers of exploration of other kinds of renewable energies. Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy is the most preferred renewable energy to be harnessed in Saudi Arabia. In accordance with Vision 2030, the KSA intends to generate at least 9.5 GW of electricity from green sources, a significant portion of which will come from solar PV power. Since the site peculiarities have a huge influence on the project’s technical and economic dimensions, the scaled-up deployment of solar projects calls for a judicious selection of PV sites. Undoubtedly, performing a thorough solar site survey is the foremost step to establishing a financially viable and successful solar project. Multiple criterion decision-making (MCDM) strategies can be very helpful in making judgments, given that a number of criteria might influence PV site selection. The objective of this research is to provide valuable information on various MCDM approaches that can be utilized to select optimal locations for PV solar plants. A number of variables, including topography, air temperature, dust storms, solar radiation, etc., are considered in this analysis. This study has combined various MCDM techniques in order for the strengths of each method to outweigh the weaknesses of the others. It has been deduced from this analysis that the most crucial factors in choosing PV sites are solar radiation and sunshine hours. It has also been concluded that of the surveyed cities, Tabuk is the optimum location for the construction of a solar power plant due to its high GHI value of 5992 W/m2/day and abundant sunshine hours of 12.16 h/day. Additionally, the FAHP-VIKOR method is noted as being the most rigorous, whereas Entropy-GRA is the simplest method.