Potential Zones Identification to Effectively Exploit Solar and Wind Energy in the State of Assam—A MCDA Approach Using GIS and Remote Sensing

With the frequent coal shortages, increased demand and rising global warming comes the need to switch to renewable sources of energy. Assam being rich in terms of Solar and Wind potential, the untapped energy needs to be harnessed in a sustainable manner. In this study the requirements for solar to produce maximum possible output will be understood and using the tools of GIS the best locations for solar and wind system installation will be found using the criterions for efficient harnessing of renewable energy. In order to accomplish this, 10 different criterions for Solar are considered that include Horizontal Irradiance, Average Annual Temperature, Distance from Power Transmission Lines, Distance from Residential Area, Elevation, Slope, Average Annual Cloud Cover, Humidity, Aspect. Similarly, for Wind 7 different criterions are considered which includes Wind Speed, distance from power transmission lines, Distance from Roads, Distance from Residential Area, Slope, Distance from Airports, Bird Sites. By performing weighted overlay analysis using AHP model, the suitable areas are defined and undesirable regions are excluded from suitability map for both Wind and Solar results.