Parametric analysis and assessment of the photovoltaics' landscape integration: Technical and legal aspects

The increasing spread of photovoltaic (PV) systems occurring nowadays does not always keep pace with respective legislative initiatives, especially those regarding a specific relation between PV systems, the natural environment and landscape. As a result of this differentiation, the existence of legislative gaps or omissions is noticed. Thus, while the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is actively promoted by the government in general, from a legal point of view there are no equivalent preventive measures for the protection and preservation of physical environment and landscape aesthetics, at least in all types of RES, with the exception of wind farms. In fact, in the case of PV systems, there is no specific legal framework, which would regulate their integration in the environment, and in particular into landscape. The work analyzes a method for assessment of aesthetic impact caused by PV plants. The method is developed in MATLAB and based on the use of a PV plant photo and the quantification of three parameters: visibility, color and fractality. Purpose of this work is to propose this method as an applicable integration rule of PV systems into landscape, aiming to reduce its aesthetic downgrading, contributing thereby to sustainability. Additionally, in an interdisciplinary approach, the suggested method restores the issue of the explicit legislative provision of specific rules and criteria regarding the PV systems integration into landscape. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.