Solar Power Plant Location Analysis Using GIS and Analytic Hierarchy Process

Abstract

The interest in renewable energy which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions has risen in the world including Korea. In Korea, solar energy generation accounts for a major percentage of electricity production using renewable energy and the solar power plants have been increasingly installed in Korea. The problem is, however, that researches on the location selection of solar power plants are unreasonably insufficient although the photovoltaic technology of the domestic solar power plants has been evolving. Thus, advanced solar energy technology could not be fully used. What is more, the indiscriminate installation of the solar power plants seriously damages the nature environment. In this study, conditions of the power plants location are analyzed in consideration of the social, cultural, environmental, economic factors and the optimum location is selected by visualizing and weighing various factors through the analytic hierarchy process. This study shows that the problem caused by the indiscriminate installation of a solar power plant could be prevented by determining the location after considering the influence of several factors. This paper would be helpful not only for the selection of location for solar plant installation in progress, but also for taking follow-up measures on the existing solar power plants placed wrongly.