A Multiple-Criteria Decision Making Method for Evaluating Solar Power Plant Location Alternatives

Abstract

Solar energy is the most readily available source of energy and one of the most important sources of the renewable energy because it is non-polluting and helps in lessening the greenhouse effect. Main problem of establishing a solar power plant is to determine its location. In the presence of many location alternatives and evaluation criteria a multiple-criteria decision making problem arises. In this work the location problem will be solved by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to figure out the most satisfying alternative. A numerical example is also included to show the proposed methodology in Turkey.