PV site suitability analysis using GIS-based spatial fuzzy multi-criteria evaluation Yassine Charabi a, * , Adel Gastli b,1 a Department of Geography, College of Arts, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 42, Al-Khodh, Muscat 123, Oman b Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 33, Al-Khodh, Muscat 123, Oman article info Article history: Received 19 June 2010 Accepted 6 October 2010 Available online 15 March 2011 Keywords: FLOWA Prospect Photovoltaic Solar map Solar power Solar radiation abstract This paper presents some preliminary results from a research study conducted on solar energy resource assessment in Oman. GIS-based spatial multi-criteria evaluation approach, in terms of the FLOWA module was used to assess the land suitability for large PV farms implementation in Oman. The tool used applies fuzzy quantifiers within ArcGIS environment allowing the integration of a multi-criteria decision analysis. Land suitability analysis for large PV farms implementation was carried out for the case study of Oman. The overlay results obtained from the analysis of the resultant maps showed that 0.5% of the total land area demonstrate a high suitability level. Different PV technologies were considered for imple- mentation. It was found that the CPV technology provides very high technical potential for implementing large solar plants. In fact, if all highly suitable land is completely exploited for CPV implementation, it can produce almost 45.5 times the present total power demand in Oman. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Despite the cascade effects of the financial crisis that have affected every sector, in varying degree and geography, the investment in renewable energy continues growing with a sustainable trend. According to the new report of the UNEP (United Nation Environment Programme) [1], the investment in renewable energy rose 5% in 2008 proving definitely the estab- lishment of new methods of electric power generation and confirms that this sector represents now a mainstream energy investment [2]. The climate of the good health of renewable energy is the fruit of the interactions of the governmental and societal engagement towards tangible actions to mitigate climate change by reducing Green House Gases (GHG), reducing their dependency on fossil fuel supply and making energy security a strategic priority. Certainly, the current financial and economical crisis may have slowed down the demand on the fossil fuel energy and driven down prices. But, the world opinion is still convinced, that is only a temporary pause. It seems that there is a latent threat form energy crisis, and will constitute a good stimulus for the emergence of the renewable energy era. To face this threat from resources depletion, solar energy is recognized as a robust alternative to unsustainable energy use in developed and developing countries. During the last two decades, the rhythm of the implementation of solar farm using Photovoltaic (PV) panels or Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technologies has accelerated in the countries situated in the solar energy belt, despite their prohibitive costs. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) solar elec- tricity will grow up to 20e25% by 2050 [1]. The IEA has also fore- seen that, by 2050, the PV and CSP systems will be able to generate 9000 TWh of electricity and reduce the yearly CO 2 emissions by almost 6 billion tones [3]. Comparing the CSP and PV technologies, the CSP necessitate larger amounts of water for cooling and mirror washing than the PV. Therefore, for arid countries with scarce fresh water resources, the PV technology is more suitable, environment friendly, and economical. Besides, the implementation of PV plants is much faster than the CSP ones, which gives it more flexibility to cope easily with the development of the grid system. To enable the development of the PV solar technologies long-term oriented strategies with predictable incentives are needed to ensure the successful deployment of PV systems to competitiveness in the most suitable locations and times. The Geographical Information System (GIS) reached a high level of maturity and emerged as a powerful tool to build solar energy strategies and to integrate large amounts of PV into flexible, effi- cient and smart grid. GIS is able to handle, processing, analyzing a large quantities of spatial data and underpinning decision- making for the spatial deployment of PV. Using GIS and Multi- Criteria Analysis (MCA) together provide a fine lens for the optimal site selection for plants. GIS-based MCA is commonly used to solve the conflicts of location suitability and harmonizing the tradeoffs * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ968 24142003; fax: þ968 24141851. E-mail addresses: yassine@squ.edu.om (Y. Charabi), gastli@squ.edu.om (A. Gastli). 1 Tel.: þ968 24141373; fax: þ968 24413454. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Renewable Energy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene 0960-1481/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.renene.2010.10.037 Renewable Energy 36 (2011) 2554e2561