Site selection for new PV power plants based on their observability

Despite the advantages that power plants based on renewable energies offer, there are some restrictions to the social acceptance of these facilities. One of these restrictions is the visual impact that large power plants may generate on people. This paper presents a new methodology for ranking the feasible places in a zone for the construction of new photovoltaic (PV) power plants according to their visibility. The methodology is based on the fuzzy viewshed and the distance decay methods, which enable to calculate the maximum number of hours in a mean day in which the new PV plant may be viewed by each possible observer. This number is related to the inhabitants in the zone, the size of the plant, the possible observers from paths and roads, and their distance to the PV plant. The proposed methodology is implemented in a Geographical Information System which allows the presentation of visual results that help to identify the best areas in the zone under study. This methodology can be useful to local authorities who have to authorize the installation of the new power plant, or investors who are trying to find the best locations from the point of view of visual impact. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.