Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Framework to Identify Optimal Countries for Large-Scale Solar Farms
Keywords:
Multi-criteria decision-making, Renewable energy, Solar energy potential, TOPSIS, WASPASAbstract
Global solar energy capacity is expanding rapidly, yet identifying the most suitable countries for large-scale solar farms remains a complex challenge due to varying geographical, meteorological, and technical factors. This study develops a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework to identify the most suitable countries for large-scale solar farms. Using data from the Global Solar Atlas, five key parameters, Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI), Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DIF), Global Tilted Irradiance (GTI), and PV Output (PVOUT), were analyzed. Two MCDM techniques, Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS), were applied to rank 186 countries based on solar energy potential. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to assess the consistency between the two ranking methods. Results indicate that African and Middle Eastern nations dominate the top ranks. Twelve countries ranked among the top positions in both ranking methods: Namibia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Botswana, Chad, Jordan, Libya, Oman, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Aruba. A strong correlation (0.9739) between the TOPSIS and WASPAS rankings confirms the reliability of the approach. These findings provide a data-driven basis for policymakers and investors to optimize solar energy deployment globally.
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