Geographical information systems applied in the field of renewable energy sources

Javier Domínguez and Julio Amador (2007)

Madrid, Spain

http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1231681

Abstract:

This article presents a synthetic vision of geographical information systems (GIS) applications that are state of the art in the renewable energy field. The objective is to analyze the main qualities and problems of these applications, focusing on specific samples, and to carry out a methodological proposal in this genre. From this point of view, the study synthesizes the analyzed applications in three big groups: Decisions Support Systems (DSS) based on GIS; renewable energy and distributed generation of electricity; and decentralized generation for the rural electrification. In addition, a synthetic table and bibliographical references is provided for each group. Finally, several conclusions and a methodological outline are contributed for GIS application in the rural electrification with renewable energy.

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Application of geographical information systems to rural electrification with renewable energy sources

J. Amador and J. Domínguez

Abstract

This paper approaches one of the main problems of rural electrification: the choice of the most appropriate technology for each case. The main objective of this project is to apply Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to divide the research zone into areas in that are more appropriate for either conventional or renewable technologies. The approaches for choosing among the different technologies are usually technical and economic; these may be jointly considered by the leveling electric cost (LEC). Determination of the LEC is a complex task that requires knowledge of the capacity factor.

This paper shows the conclusions of the technical and economic parameter analysis involved in the determination of the LEC for each technology. This analysis has allowed us to carry out proposals of improvement in the methodology of the GIS of rural electrification. The resulting GIS has been verified in the municipality of Lorca (Murcia, Spain).

Keywords: GIS; LEC; Mapping; Renewable energy sources; Rural areas; Electric power