Abstract
This research aims to develop a GIS-based simulation for choosing the best location for a solar farm in Binh Thuan province, which is in the low, hilly-mountainous region of South-Central Vietnam. Four groups of criteria (climate, location, land use, and orography), which include eight criteria (solar radiation, land surface temperature; distance to substation, main road, residential area, historical and tourism sites; land use; and slope) are considered for the site selection. Moreover, these criteria are divided into twenty-four sub-criteria which indicate the advantages and disadvantages of each criterion. A method of analytic hierarchy process, then, is applied to determine the relative weight of each group, criterion, and sub-criterion. Furthermore, based on a calculated land suitability index score, a map with four categories of very advantageous, advantageous, rather advantageous, and disadvantageous areas for solar power farm development was also created. Finally, the developed model can be used for supporting planners, managers, policy makers, and local government to make decisions on suitable and effective planning strategies for solar power farm site selection and can be applied anywhere around the world.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ali, S., Taweekun, J., Techato, K., Waewsak, J., & Gyawali, S. (2018a). GIS based site suitability assessment for wind and solar farms in Songkhla. Renewable Energy, 132, 1360–1372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.09.035.
Ali, S., Techato, K., Taweenkun, J., & Gyawali, S. (2018b). Assessment of land use suitability for natural rubber using GIS in the U-tapao River basin. Thailand. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 41(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2018.07.002.
Anwarzai, M. A., & Nagasaka, K. (2016). Utility-scale implementable potential of wind and solar energies for Afghanistan using GIS multi-criteria decision analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 71, 150–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.12.048.
Aran-Carrion, J., Espin-Estrella, A., Aznar-Dols, F., Zamorano-Toro, M., Rodriguze, M., & Ramos-Ridao, A. (2008). Environmental decision-support systems for evaluating the carrying capacity of land areas: Optimal site selection for grid-connected photovoltaic power plants. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 12(9), 2358–2380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2007.06.011.
Chen, P., Shen, Z. J., & Kawakami, M. (2006). Study on development and application of MAS for impact analysis of large-scale shopping center development. Journal of the City planning institute of Japan, 41(3), 271–276. http://webserv.ce.t.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/~kawakami/UPL/ronnbunn/pdf/cpiy2006v41-3p271-276.pdf.
Gbanie, S. P., Paul, B. T., Jinnah, S. M., James, M., & Victor, T. S. K. (2013). Modelling landfill location using geographic information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA): Case study Bo. Southern Sierra Leone. Applied Geography, 36, 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2012.06.013.
Giamalaki, M., & Tsoutsos, T. (2019). Sustainable siting of solar power installations in Mediterranean using a GIS/AHP approach. Renewable Energy, 141, 64–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.03.100.
Habid, S. M., Suliman, A. E. R. E., Nahry, A. H. A., & Rahman, E. N. A. E. (2020). Spatial modeling for the optimum site selection of solar photovoltaics power plant in the northwest coast of Egypt. Remote Sensing Application: Society and Environment, 18, 100313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsase.2020.100313.
Janke, J. R. (2010). Multicriteria GIS modeling of wind and solar farms in Colorado. Renewable Energy, 35(10), 2228–2234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2010.03.014.
Juan, M. S. L., Carlos, H. A., Socorro, G. C. M., & Luis, C. D. (2014). GIS-based photovoltaic farms site selection using ELECTRE-TRI: Evaluating the case for Torre Pacheco, Murcia, Southeast of Spain. Renewable Energy, 66, 478–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2013.12.038.
Juan, M. S. L., Jerónimo, T. S., Pedro, L. S. E., & Socorro, G. C. M. (2013). Geographical information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods for the evaluation of solar farms locations: Case study in south-eastern Spain. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 24, 544–556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.03.019.
Juan, M. S. L., Socorro, G. C. M., & Maria, T. L. (2016). Comparative TOPSIS-ELECTRE TRI methods for optimal sites for photovoltaic solar farms. Case study in Spain. Journal of Cleaner Production, 127, 387–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.04.005.
Kamdar, I., Ali, S., Bennui, A., Techto, K., & Jutidamrongphan, W. (2019). Municipal solid waste landfill siting using an integrated GIS-AHP approach: A case study from Songkhla, Thailand. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 149, 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.05.027.
Ma, Y., Shen, Z. J., & Nguyen, D. T. (2016). Agent-based simulation to inform planning strategies for welfare facilities for the elderly: Day care center development in a Japanese City. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 19(4), 5. https://doi.org/10.18564/jasss.3090.
Nguyen, A. T. (2018). Method for evaluating potential of solar power electricity. MOIT/GIZ energy support programme, page 5 (In Vietnamese). http://gizenergy.org.vn/media/app/media/bai%20trinh%20bay/cac-bai-phat-bieu-tieng-viet-hoi-thao-ngay-24-thang-1.pdf. Accessed 10 April 2019.
Nguyen, T. M. T., Nguyen, D. T., Truong, M. H., Doan, N. A. (2021). GIS-based simulation for deep-water port site selection using analytic hierarchy process: A case study from Southern East of Vietnam. Applied Geomatics, 13 (1), 107-118 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12518-020-00319-2.
Noorollahi, Y., Yousefi, H., & Mohammadi, M. (2016). Multi-criteria decision support system for wind farm site selection using GIS. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 13, 38–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2015.11.007.
Pillot, B., Al-Kurdi, N., Gervet, C., & Linguet, L. (2020). An integrated GIS and robust optimization framework for solar PV plant planning scenarios at utility scale. Applied Energy, 260, 114257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.114257.
Rahman, S. U., & Smith, D. K. (2000). Use of location-allocation models in health service development planning in developing nations. European Journal of Operational Research, 123(3), 437–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0377-2217(99)00289-1.
Ruiz, H. S., Sunarso, A., Ibrahim-Bathis, K., Murti, S. A., & Budiarto, I. (2020). GIS-AHP multi criteria decision analysis for the optimal location of solar energy plants at Indonesia. Energy Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2020.11.198
Saaty, T. L. (1980). The analytic hierarchy process. McGraw-Hill.
Tahri, M., Hakdaoui, M., & Maanan, M. (2015). The evaluation of solar farm locations applying geographic information system and multi-criteria decision-making methods: Case study in southern Morocco. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 51, 1354–1362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.054.
Uyan, M. (2013). GIS-based solar farms site selection using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in Karapinar region, Konya/Turkey. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 28, 11–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.07.042.
Villacreses, G., Gaona, G., Javier, M. G., & Diego, J. J. (2017). Wind farms suitability location using geographical information system (GIS), based on multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods: The case of continental Ecuador. Renewable Energy, 109, 275–286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.03.041.
Vu Phong Solar (2018). https://solarpower.vn/cuong-do-buc-xa-nang-luong-mat-troi-tai-cac-khu-vuc-viet-nam/. Accessed 5 April 2019 (In Vietnamese).
Waewsak, J., Ali, S., & Gagnon, Y. (2020a). Site suitability assessment of para rubberwood-based power plant in the southernmost provinces of Thailand based on a multi-criteria decision-making analysis. Biomass and Bioenergy, 137, 105545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2020.105545.
Waewsak, J., Ali, S., Natee, W., Kongruang, C., Chancham, C., & Gagnon, Y. (2020b). Assessment of hybrid, firm renewable energy-based power plants: Application in the southernmost region of Thailand. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 130, 109953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.109953.
Watson, J. J. W., & Hudson, M. D. (2015). Regional Scale wind farm and solar farm suitability assessment using GIS-assisted multi-criteria evaluation. Landscape and Urban Planning, 138, 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.02.001.
Wikipedia (2020), https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90i%E1%BB%87n_m%E1%BA%B7t_tr%E1%BB%9Di_M%E1%BB%99_%C4%90%E1%BB%A9c. Accessed 25 June 2020.
Acknowledgements
This research is funded by Vietnam National University HoChiMinh City (VNU-HCM) under Grant Number C2019-18-29
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nguyen, DT., Truong, MH. & Phan, DT. Gis-based simulation for solar farm site selection in south-central Vietnam. GeoJournal 87, 3685–3699 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-021-10454-x
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-021-10454-x