Site Suitability Assessment for Installing Photovoltaic Systems using Fisheye-lens Camera and SOLPOS Calculator

Abstract : This study performed a site suitability assessment for installing photovoltaic (PV) systems at the Samma-taejung mine water treatment facility. A fisheye-lens camera (Solmetric’s SunEye210) and the SOLPOS calculator developed by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), USA were used to quantitatively evaluate the suitability of four candidate points for PV installations. Three indices including SA (Solar Access), TOF (Tilt and Orientation Factor) and TSRF (Total Solar Resource Fraction) were calculated at the four candidate points (Points 1-4). As a result, we could know that Point 2 has higher TSRF (81%) than other three candidate points. Although Point 3 has the highest SA, its TSRF is lower than that of Point 1 due to terrain gradient. Therefore, it is recommended that Point 2 is the most suitable location to install PV systems in the study area.