Suitability Analysis for Solar PV Farm Installation using GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Simara Island, Province of Romblon, Philippines

Abstract

Finding suitable installation sites for renewable energy technologies requires careful planning and consideration of multiple factors and not just relying on the location’s energy potential. This research work presents a suitability analysis of solar PV farm installation using GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Simara Island, Province of Romblon, Philippines. The study gathered key important details of the island from various sources and then categorized them in terms of climatology, location, environment, meteorology, and disaster susceptibility. Meanwhile, a pairwise comparison was obtained after a panel of experts ranked the above-mentioned parameters. A multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) using AHP were then applied to generate new sets of suitability maps, which were combined through weighted overlay analysis using QGIS to produce the necessary solar PV suitability map. The map reveals the spatial distribution of suitable solar PV farm installation sites, including highly suitable, suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable, and unsuitable locations. Results show that most of the island is suitable for solar PV farm installation at 42.81%, while 39.73% accounting for highly suitable locations. Moderately suitable and marginally suitable sites account for 8.76% and 1.07%, respectively, and 7.63% is deemed unsuitable. This study successfully identifies suitable locations for solar PV farm installations on Simara Island, demonstrating the effectiveness of the GIS and AHP combined methodology. This approach holds great potential for guiding RE planning and development in similar island regions in the Philippines.