A Fuzzy Logic Approach for Optimization of Solar PV Site in India

The addition of renewable energy sources in the electricity grid is increasing day by day because of environmental concern. Due to its easy availability and high potential, solar energy is considered to be one of the most important renewable energy sources in India. Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is one of the foremost solutions to mitigate energy shortage and rapidly increasing energy demand problems in the country. For the development and economic growth of solar PV, it needs to use solar energy carefully and planned solar power plants at an optimum location. The optimization of site selection is a critical issue for utility-scale power plants which require a large investment. To operate the solar PV system at its highest efficiency, it needs to select the most optimal sites with favorable environmental conditions. Among a wide range of environmental parameters most obvious factors that affect the PV performance are solar irradiance and air temperature. In this study, a fuzzy logic approach is used to propose a decision support system for selecting the most appropriate solar PV sites in India. Because of the huge regional span, to analyze every region, we divide India into six zones based upon climatic and geographical features that are north zone, south zone, east zone, west zone, central zone, and northeast zone. Firstly, we analyze the effect of solar irradiance and temperature on PV performance. Secondly, the variation of these factors for each zone is investigated. Then, a fuzzy logic approach is used to optimize zone wise highest priority sites with high solar PV potential.