GIS based analysis for photovoltaic deployment in the Southeast US

The photovoltaic (PV) market development in the Southeast US has been experiencing a much slower growth compared to the Southwest, mainly due to low electricity costs and lack of solar incentives. However, the Southeast has probably significant potential to grow. In this work, a GIS based site-suitability analysis is performed to assess the feasible areas for a utility-scale PV deployment in four states with high population growth and good solar insolation. Besides the feasible areas, technical potential and capacity factors are also calculated. The results, together with newly established criteria, are used in a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) established for a PV power plant. The MCDA is conducted to have a better understanding on how to prioritize development based on natural resource potential, technical feasibility but also economic factors such as solar incentives and installation costs.