A novel four-stage integrated GIS based fuzzy SWARA approach for solar site suitability with hydrogen storage system

The hydrogen storage system is a suitable solution to solve the periodic nature of solar energy. In this study, a new four stage comprehensive framework based on Geographical information system (GIS) and fuzzy multi -criteria decision-making (MCDM) is presented to identify suitable areas for developing solar power plant (SPP) in one of the dust-prone areas of Iran, Yazd province. High-resolution remote sensing data along with organization datasets are used to exclude inappropriate areas using GIS approach. Also, a new application of the SWARA method is introduced to prioritize solar sites by considering the uncertainty in the fuzzy environment. The considered criteria include economic (proximity to the settlements, roads and transmission lines), geography (slope and aspect) and technical criteria (global horizontal irradiance, temperature, dust optical thickness and dust deposition rate). The results showed that 55% of the area is unsuitable for the development of a SPP due to environmental, dust characteristics and topography limitations. Also, 13.8%of the area has a moderate suit-ability, 26.8% of it has a good suitability and only 4.5% of it has an excellent suitability. In addition, the building SPP in suitable areas in Yazd province has the potential to produce 6926.2 TWh/yr of electricity and 112 Mton/ yr of hydrogen.