The impact of climate change on photovoltaic power potential in Southwestern Colombia

Abstract

In this paper, we present the first study of the long-term climate-change impact on photovoltaic power potential in Nariño, Colombia. In this region, more than half of the territory does not have a constant electricity supply, but it has great potential for solutions with renewable energy sources. Based on the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), we assess the change in photovoltaic power potential towards the end of this century, considering two climate change scenarios, one optimistic and the other pessimistic. Our results suggest that changes in photovoltaic power potential, by the end of the century, will have a maximum decrease of around 2.49% in the central zone of Nariño, with some non-affected areas, and a maximum increase of 2.52% on the southeastern side with respect to the pessimistic climate change scenario.