Visibility Assessment of New Photovoltaic Power Plants in Areas with Special Landscape Value

Power plants based on renewable sources offer environmental, technical and economic advantages. Of particular importance is the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional power plants. Despite the advantages, people are often opposed to the construction of these facilities due to their high visual impact, particularly if they are close to places with a great cultural and/or landscape value. This paper proposes a new methodology for identifying the most suitable geographical areas for the construction of new photovoltaic (PV) power plants in zones of special scenic or cultural interest, helping to keep the environment free from the visual intrusions caused by these facilities. From several repeated analyses, the degree of visibility of the new PV plant, the potential observation time of passing visitors, considering the route they follow and their speed, and the increase in visibility of the plants when seen totally or partially with the sky as background, are determined. The result obtained is a map showing the ranking of the geographical areas based on a variable calculated in such analyses: the Global Accumulated Perception Time (GAPT). The application of this methodology can help the different agents involved in the decision-making process for the installation of new PV plant by providing them with an objective visibility criterion.

Evaluation of energy generation in Iraqi territory by solar photovoltaic power plants with a capacity of 20 MW

The study evaluates the visibility of solar photovoltaic power plant construction for electricity generation based on a 20 MW capacity. The assessment was performed for four main cities in Iraq by using hourly experimental weather data (solar irradiance, wind speed, and ambient temperature). The experimental data was measured for the period from 1st January to 31st December of the year 2019, where the simulation process was performed at a 1 h time step resolution at the same resolution as the experimental data. There are two positionings considered for solar photovoltaic modules: (i) annual optimum tilt angle and (ii) two-axis tracking system. The effect of the ambient temperature and wind on the overall system energy generated was taken into consideration. The study is targeted at evaluating the potential solar energy in Iraq and the viability of electricity generation using a 20 MW solar photovoltaic power plant. The results showed that the overall performance of the suggested power plant capacity is highly dependent on the solar irradiance intensity and the ambient temperature with wind speed. The current 20 MW solar photovoltaic power plant capacity shows the highest energy that can be generated in the mid-western region and the lowest in the northeast regions. The greatest influence of the ambient temperature on the energy genrated by power plants is observed in the southern regions.