Analysis of insolation potential of Knjaževac Municipality (Serbia) using multi-criteria approach

The subject of this paper is to identify the most suitable location for the installation of solar panel power plant in the Municipality of Knjaževac (East Serbia). Digital elevation model (DEM) of the area of interest was constructed using Geomedia Pro Grid module. The potential insolation of municipality was determined using the obtained DEM for the summer and winter solstice which represents longest and shortest day in a year (June 21st and December 21st, 2015), which allowed calculating the mean annual potential insolation. Six classes of land use were identified using multispectral analysis of Landsat 8 satellite images. Three best locations for the solar panel installation were identified by multi-criteria AHP analysis using mean potential insolation, mean cloudiness for corresponding months, mean temperature, grade and aspect, land use classes and simplicity of availability of the locations. The obtained data indicate that the use of solar radiation in Knjaževac municipality is economically feasible as a supplementary source of energy.