Site Selection of Solar Power Plant using GIS-Fuzzy DEMATEL Model: A Case Study of Bam and Jiroft Cities of Kerman Province in Iran

Abstract

Nowadays, with the population growth, renewable energies- especially solar energy- have grown effectively among governments. These types of energies are considered to be unlimited sources of energy and have the least harmful effects on the environment. In recent years, investment in the solar energy has been rising rapidly in Iran. One of the important challenges in this field is the site selection of solar power plant which is encountered with many spatial and environmental considerations. The contribution of this research is to determine the suitable site for the creation of a solar power plant in Jiroft and Bam cities of Kerman province, using GIS and fuzzy DEMATEL. In this study, six main criteria including solar radiation potential, surface temperature, access to urban areas, access to transportation lines, slope and aspect, were used. Finally, the study area is classified into four categories as “low suitable", “moderate", “best suitable" and “not suitable" with an equal interval classification method. The results showed that 8% (1218.282km2) of the study area has low suitable, 14.23% (2406.903 km2) has moderate suitable and 12% (1996.311 km2) has best suitable for solar power plant area. 66% (11291.03 km2) of the study area is not suitable for solar power plant.