A Spatial Investigation of the Feasibility

of Solar Resource Energy Potential

in Planning the Solar Cities of India

Koel Roychowdhury and Radhika Bhanja

Abstract India is experiencing large-scale urbanization, and the key component

leading to such demographic growth and increasing GDP in these urban spaces is an
uninterrupted energy supply. The energy generated from nonconventional energy
resources consequently leads to resource scarcity and environment pollution. The
renewable energy generation and its optimum utilization is the key to the sustainable
growth of cities and its hinterland. Although India is in the fifth position among the
leading countries to harness renewable energy, in order to suffice the growing energy
requirements, it will still require thrice the energy than the total energy consumed
today. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has undertaken the “Develop-
ment of Solar Cities” program to boost renewable energy usage in urban sectors.
Around 60 cities are participating in this program. However, the viability of the
program in these cities still needs to be established. The current study, therefore,
focuses on identifying solar hotspots of India and how the spatial distribution of
solar energy resources accentuates or hinders the performance of the solar cities. A
technoeconomic feasibility study has been conducted using solar resource datasets
derived from high-resolution satellites. Further, the Technique for Order of Prefer-
ence by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method was applied to identify the
cities with the maximum potential to successfully fulfil the ambitious solar city
project. The statistical analysis reveals that cities lying in western India are best for
harnessing solar energy in large scale. The power will be generated through Con-
centrated Solar Power (CSP) systems or in residential and commercial sectors using
Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) systems. The study explores the feasibility of site selection
for the ambitious solar city project, focusing on existing policies, technology, and
economic capacity of the selected cities to meet the project targets.

Keywords Urbanization · Energy consumption · Renewable energy · Solar city

· Renewable energy funding

K. Roychowdhury (*) · R. Bhanja

Department of Geography, Presidency University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
e-mail: koel.geog@presiuniv.ac.in

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to 169
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. Kumar et al. (eds.), Remote Sensing and GIScience,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55092-9_10
170 K. Roychowdhury and R. Bhanja

1 Introduction

Cities are moving forward to achieve the global goals of combating climate change
and adapting all possible measures for a sustainable low carbon future. India, too,
has undertaken a giant leap in achieving a massive project of installing 175 GW of
renewable energy by 2020, where 100 GW of power will be generated from solar
energy, 60 GW from wind energy, 10 GW from biopower, and 5 GW from small
hydropower plants (Press Information Bureau 2018). In order to accomplish such
ambitious goals, the country’s energy systems are being subjected to sustainable
transformations. Indian cities are equally participating in different renewable energy
programs, thereby substantially reducing the use of conventional sources of energy
to meet the growing energy demands. The Solar City Mission (SCM) program is
such an initiative by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to address
the energy demands of Indian cities in a holistic manner. SCM program aims to
reduce around 10% of the projected demand of conventional energy in the cities,
through its combination with renewable energy sources, thereby promoting energy
efficiency measures and energy-inclusive development of the selected cities. The
program was introduced to motivate the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) adopting
renewable energy-based projects like solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, and waste
to energy based on the need and resource availability in the city (Ministry of New
and Renewable Energy, 2018).
India is a tropical country and its geographic location is favorable to tap solar
energy by employing large-scale solar plants and solar photovoltaic systems in
rooftops, water heating, and irrigation purposes and many more. India has already
installed 25 GW of grid-connected solar power capacity. The unplanned compact
cities of India are willing to benefit from renewable energy and therefore, a
technoeconomic feasibility assessment of potential cities is a prerequisite prior to
cost-intensive renewable energy investment in these cities. The application of
geographic information system (GIS) in the field of renewable energy planning
has been extensively used for efficient resource utilization and planned production,
generation, and storage of renewable energy(Alhamwi et al. 2017; Chow et al. 2014;
Firozjaei et al. 2019; Gastli and Charabi 2010; Piragnolo et al. 2015). Non-geospatial
methods like mathematical models (Eldin et al. 2016; Shehzad et al. 2016; Xiang
et al. 2018) and economic models (Byrne et al. 2017; Okoye et al. 2016; Wegertseder
et al. 2016) are mostly used to calculate the optimum generation of electricity from
renewables, but they lack the ability to determine the variation over space and time.
The geospatial models employ land use, buildings, rooftops, and infrastructure data
to map the potential of a region to harvest renewable energy successfully. Geospatial
awareness is crucial for sustainable energy infrastructure planning (Resch et al.
2014). This research opens up a new horizon for a national-level assessment of the
feasibility of solar energy planning by utilizing high-resolution data and geospatial
modelling tools.
Resource assessment is a fundamental approach for investors and renewable
energy planners to determine appropriate geographical locations with abundant
A Spatial Investigation of the Feasibility of Solar Resource Energy Potential. . . 171

and consistent resources. There are studies which spatially assess the solar energy
potential at local, regional, and global scales. Solar hotspots are regions of greater
solar energy potential than their surrounding regions, suitable for commercialization
of solar energy (Ramachandra et al. 2011). The procedure of site selection for solar
energy can be tedious at times. Large-scale solar power projects require vast land
areas to capture a large amount of solar irradiation. One of the hindrances faced in
developing such projects is the variability of solar irradiation in different geograph-
ical locations. Other factors that determine the location of solar PV plants include
identification of physical constraints like the presence of hilly areas, protected areas,
forests, and water bodies (Anwarzai and Nagasaka 2017); installation and operation
cost; incentives from the government; and the proximity to the site for energy
consumption, which may be either rural or urban. Considering the massive potential
of India to harness solar energy, determining the suitable location to develop solar
plants by investors is a challenging task. The use of remote sensing and GIS for
decision-making can improve the accuracy of site selection procedure.
Open-source data from World Bank, National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration (NASA), and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are frequently
used to assess the solar energy potential of countries (Asumadu-Sarkodie and Owusu
2016; Chandler et al. 2015; Jahangiri et al. 2016; Watson et al. 2019). GIS tools have
proven to be beneficial in assessing the solar energy potential for different cities in
India (D. Kumar 2018; K. E. Kumar and Kumari 2019; Ramachandra and Shruthi
2007). The study considers two main solar irradiation datasets: global horizontal
irradiation (GHI) to map potential areas of solar photovoltaic (SPV) and direct
normal irradiation (DNI) to identify suitable areas for large-scale solar plants like
Concentrated Solar Plants (CSP). The areas suitable for harnessing solar energy are
mainly delineated using solar irradiation datasets and then GIS is further used to
classify and segregate regions of the basis of resource availability and other socio-
economic attributes (Freitas et al. 2015). Most of the studies have not considered the
effectiveness of battery backup of solar systems, which is mainly calculated in terms
of days with no sunshine.
Numerous methodologies have been adopted in recent studies to increase the
accuracy of predicting the most feasible locations to tap solar energy resources. One
such method involves modelling the spatial feasibility of solar energy resources
using GIS-based multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). This method uses spatial
information, decision-making attributes, and criteria weights to conduct the spatial
assessment of renewable energy resource potential (Greene et al. 2011). Site suit-
ability analysis using a weighted sum model was applied to identify consumer
suitable and economically viable regions for utility-scale solar projects in the
countries across southwestern United States (Brewer et al. 2015). A combination
of GIS and analytical hierarchical process (AHP) was used to compute a land
suitability index in Saudi Arabia and the most suitable location to construct solar
power plants were identified (Al Garni and Awasthi 2017). Wu et al. (2017)
designed a geospatial multicriteria analysis model (MapRE) to estimate the renew-
able energy potential of a specific site with the help of ArcGIS, Python, and R
programming languages. This method has also been used to locate regions with
172 K. Roychowdhury and R. Bhanja

greater investment opportunities for renewable energy in Bangladesh (Shiraishi et al.

2019). Moreover, different levels of hindrances require flexible results, and there-
fore, GIS-based ordered weighted averaging approach can also be applied to deter-
mine the optimal location for developing solar projects in Iran (Firozjaei et al. 2019).
The solar hotspots of India were first characterized by Ramachandra et al. (2011)
using NASA SSE Global insolation datasets superimposed on agroclimatic zones of
India. The potential zones were segregated for SPV and CSP systems, and it was
observed that around 58% of the country could meet the power requirements of
large-scale solar plants in a sustainable manner. The same methodology was used to
locate renewable energy potential taluks in Karnataka, India (Ramachandra and
Shruthi 2007). The study concludes that the coastal areas of the state received
more solar irradiation than its surrounding areas and were ideal for tapping solar
energy. GIS-based MCDA are also applied to assess the feasibility of solar energy
resources in Indian context. Numerous criteria are applicable to determine the
feasible areas to tap solar energy. Reshma et al. (2018) used criteria such as distance
from road and water bodies, availability of barren lands, slope map, direction of sun
radiation, and existing built-up area to conduct the solar site assessment of the
Thiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu. In the same manner, AHP was used to rank
areas in Sikkim according to the technoeconomic feasibility of solar energy
resources and GIS was used to generate a technology-aided suitability map for
medium-scale solar energy plant installations in the state of Sikkim (Ghose et al.
2019).
This research attempts to identify the solar hotspots of India and how the spatial
distribution of solar energy resources accentuates or hinders the performance of the
solar cities. The study is novel as it considers different aspects of technoeconomic
feasibility, which previously had not been considered in the Indian context. In
addition to a detailed analysis of solar radiation aspect and economic feasibility of
Indian states, the study also aims to justify the viability of the Solar Cities Mission
program, for which 60 cities have been selected to encourage the renewable energy
usage in urban areas. The study explores the feasibility of site selection for the
ambitious solar city project, focusing on existing policies, technology, and economic
capacity of the selected cities to meet the project targets.

2 Material and Method

2.1 Study Area

A technoeconomic feasibility of solar energy resource potential in 60 selected solar

cities of India has been studied here. For the implementation of solar city projects, a
sum of up to Rs. 50 lakhs per city would be provided to the ULBs, depending upon
population and initiatives taken by the city council or administration body. The
program provides a framework to prepare a Master Plan of the solar city to establish
sector-wise strategies and targets for implementation of renewable energy projects in
A Spatial Investigation of the Feasibility of Solar Resource Energy Potential. . . 173

the city. Till date 36 solar cities have compiled their Master Plans, while only 4 cities
have received more than 50% of the allotted amount for successful implementation
of their Master Plans (MNRE 2018). SCM is mainly a capacity-building program for
the stakeholders involved in the planning and implementation of green energy
strategies in the selected solar cities of India. Therefore, a spatial investigation into
the feasibility of renewable energy resources in the remaining cities must be
conducted, prior to the dissemination of further funds to these cities.

2.2 Data Used

To identify the solar hotspots of India, three relevant solar irradiation datasets were
considered, i.e. Global horizontal irradiation (GHI), Direct normal irradiation (DNI)
and Photovoltaic power potential (PVOUT). These datasets were acquired from
Global Solar Atlas, a web platform funded by the World Bank and Energy Sector
Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) to provide quick access to solar
resource data globally. These datasets for India can be downloaded in two formats
of raster data: GeoTIFF and AAIGRID (Esri ASCII Grid). The data layers are
provided in a geographic spatial reference (EPSG:4326) and the resolution of the
pixels is adjusted to 30 arcsec (nominally 1 km) (World Bank Group 2018). The
solar irradiation datasets for India is available from 1999 to 2018, and the solar data
are available in terms of long-term yearly average of daily totals and as long-term
average of yearly summaries. Here, long-term average of yearly summaries
was used.
Solar radiation datasets consider both irradiance and irradiation values for anal-
ysis. GHI (kWh/m2) is the total amount of direct and diffuse components of
radiation from the sun falling on a flat surface. GHI is considered relevant for
generating energy from SPV and other solar heating technologies such as solar
water heaters, solar water pumps, and many more. On the other hand, DNI
(kWh/m2) is the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth’s surface in a
straight line from the sun at a particular position in the sky. DNI is useful for tapping
solar energy by the CSPs. Both variables were processed using different solar
radiation models. GHI was derived from the SOLIS clear-sky model coupled with
the cloud index with the help of three geostationary satellites, mainly National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), European Organisation for the
Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and Japanese Meteorolog-
ical Agency (Cebecauer et al. 2010). DNI was calculated from DirIndex, coupled
with high-resolution DEM data, to avoid inconsistency of solar radiation and
removal of aerosol contents (Ruiz-Arias et al. 2010; Šúri et al. 2010). Moreover,
PVOUT (kWh/kWp) was also considered in this study to identify the regions with
the highest energy-capturing potential by PV technologies. It is defined as the
amount of electricity (in kWh) that can be generated by a DC power of a PV system
with 1 kW peak installed capacity. Higher values of PVOUT indicate an effective
operation of PV systems (Solargis 2019). PVOUT is a viable option for investors to
174 K. Roychowdhury and R. Bhanja

identify locations where better-quality solar panels with high grade silicon cells and
improved temperature coefficient performance (N-type silicon cells) with slower
degradation rate can be installed. The GHI, DNI, and PVOUT data are available
worldwide between 60
N and 45
S. The datasets are available at 1-km spatial
resolution, from 1999 to 2018 for North and South America, and part of Asia
(up to 100
longitude).
The PV system penetration in the Indian market requires huge investments from
both public and private enterprises. MNRE reports that the average cost required to
install a rooftop solar system with on-grid connection is Rs 75 per watt. Renewable
energy becomes lucrative when they lower the electricity bill of consumers at a lesser
installation cost; therefore, the central government, as well as the state governments
of India have designed policies to provide different types of incentives to eligible
producers to tap solar energy through SPVs and CSPs (MNRE 2019). The policies
were examined, and the incentives were categorized and coded to determine the type
of economic benefits provided by each state government to its investors to expertly
install solar PV systems in their frontiers. The policies can be accessed from the
MNRE website.

2.3 Methodology

The solar resources distribution was depicted using GHI and DNI values and the
potential zones with high energy yield capacity were depicted through PVOUT data.
Each parameter was classified into seven groups of solar potential and the areas were
extracted and measured. The classification of the individual potential zones was
done based on natural breaks or the Jenks method. The Jenks method groups value
based on their similarity by minimizing the variance within classes and maximizing
the difference between classes (Jenks 1977). The method first generated random
classes, then the class boundaries of each class are adjusted by assigning the
boundary values of each class its next class. This iterative process halts when the
variance within classes reaches to its lowest possible value while the variance
between classes has reached its maximal limit (de Smith et al. 2018). This method
of classification has been previously used by (Prăvălie et al. (2019) to delineate solar
resource potential zones using 7-point Likert scale of significance.
To delineate the economically feasible zones, the solar energy policies for each
state were examined and required information was extracted and coded to determine
the type of economic benefits provided by each state government to its investors.
Four categories were selected to represent the economic viability of solar projects
state-wise, namely number of eligible producers, provision for land allotment,
provision for banking of power, and monetary incentives, which include interest
subsidy in the form of lower interests and fixed capital investment, waiver from
electricity duty and stamp duty, exemption or concession in land premium, project
report subsidy, and technical patent subsidy. The total number of benefits provided
by the governments determines the economic potential of each state for effective
A Spatial Investigation of the Feasibility of Solar Resource Energy Potential. . . 175

Fig. 1 Overview of the methodology used in the study

installation of the solar PV systems. To classify the states into economic potential
zones, the above-mentioned methodology to delineate solar resource potential zones
was applied.
Finally, after the overall feasible areas were delineated, the data from all layers of
solar resource potential zones and economic potential zones was extracted to solar
city point vector layer and a GIS-based MCDA method was applied to identify the
cities with the maximum potential to successfully fulfil the ambitious solar city
project. The detailed methodology is explained in Fig. 1. The TOPSIS method,
developed by Yoon and Hwang (1981), was used to find the solar cities with ideal
conditions to harness solar energy. The method presumes that each criterion leads
toward an increasing or decreasing utility, through which positive and negative ideal
solution are defined. The Euclidean distance approach is used to calculate the
distance between each criteria and the ideal point (Eq. 1 and 2).
" #0:5
X
n
2
Sþ ¼ ðW ck  W þc Þ ð1Þ
c¼1
" #0:5
X
n
2
S ¼ ðW ck  W c Þ ð2Þ
c¼1

The relative closeness to the ideal point can be calculated by (Eq. 3)

Sk
CI ¼ ð3Þ
Skþ þ Sk

Where Wck is the weighted standardized criterion value of the kth alternative,
calculated by multiplying standardized criterion value by the corresponding weight,
and W+c is the ideal value and W-c is the negative ideal value for the kth criterion
(Malczewski 1999; Ozturk and Batuk 2011).
176 K. Roychowdhury and R. Bhanja

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 Solar Resource Potential in India

India, on an average, receives 1500–2000 sunshine hours per year (Sunwatt-India

2013). The solar radiation maps generated from the GHI and DNI datasets (Fig. 2)
reveal a large geographical area of India is suitable top harness solar energy. The
classification of GHI data reveals that 19% of the geographical area (0.744 mil km2),
mainly Gujarat, half of Rajasthan and Karnataka, and parts of Tamil Nadu and
Andhra Pradesh receives GHI more than 1965.00 kWh/m2, and can be considered as
the ideal locations to tap solar energy with the help of SPVs in the future. Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and parts of Rajasthan, Kar-
nataka, and Tamil Nadu and the eastern part of Kashmir occupy the next major class
with a higher potential area to capture solar energy (more than 1800 kWh/m2 and
less than 1965 kWh/m2). This zone covers around 1.3 mil km2 of India’s geograph-
ical area.
On the other hand, only a significant part of eastern Kashmir exhibits maximum
DNI values (> 2000 kWh/m2). Gujarat and 50% of Rajasthan’s geographical area lie
in the second belt of the very high solar potential zone and occupy a minimal area of
0.44 mil m2. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka,
western Andhra Pradesh, and the remaining area of Rajasthan receive DNI ranging
between 1470.00 kWh/m2 and 1660.00 kWh/m2 and are also suitable to harness
solar energy in large quantities. These three regions, covering around 1.6 mil km2 of

Fig. 2 Spatial representation of GHI (a) and DNI (b) values in the states of India
A Spatial Investigation of the Feasibility of Solar Resource Energy Potential. . . 177

India’s geographical area, are most favorable for CSP systems. Although the distri-
bution of DNI and GHI in India show vast difference, the homogeneous distribution
of the high, very high, and maximum solar potential zones, except that of Kashmir,
may enable them to conduct interstate electricity distribution from solar power plants
installed in the neighboring states.
The distribution of GHI and DNI values for regions with lesser potential to tap
solar energy were almost similar. The states of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab,
Mizoram, northern parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the alluvial plain and
deltaic region of West Bengal receive average solar radiation when compared to
the remaining states of India. These regions cannot solely depend on solar energy
power plants as their future electricity suppliers. Here, a combination of thermal and
solar power plants may suffice the need to generate electricity from renewable
energy resources, without jeopardizing the electricity demand of the growing pop-
ulation and urban infrastructure. The remaining state of northeast India and western
and central part of Jammu and Kashmir have poor ability to tap solar energy, and
therefore these states can consider different renewable energy options to meet their
energy needs sustainably.

3.2 Technological Advantage in Solar Sites

The photovoltaic power potential (PVOUT) of solar sites combines solar irradiation
and air temperature datasets to obtain the maximum power out when the input power
adheres to the Standard Test Conditions (STC) of 1000 W/m2 global insolation, 25

C module temperature, and 1.5 air-mass (AM). The SPVs are an array of photovol-
taic cells which convert solar energy to direct current (DC) electricity. These solar
cells are composed of a thin layer of N-type silicon above a thick layer of P-type
silicon. When the sunrays fall on the cells, the light simulated electrons gain
momentum and electricity is generated at the P–N junction. The efficiency of the
SPVs varies with the purity of silicon used in the solar cells. Around 90% of the
world’s SPVs use either monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon cells to achieve
12–20% cell efficiencies. The purity level of monocrystalline silicon cells is higher
than polycrystalline silicon cells, and therefore monocrystalline cells are more
expensive.
The classification of PVOUT (Fig. 3) is nearly similar in characteristics to the
categorization of DNI. The east part of Kashmir exhibits maximum PVOUT values
(>1800 kWh/kWp). Gujarat and 50% of Rajasthan’s geographical area form a very
high technologically potential zone to generate a greater amount of solar energy
using efficient SPVs. This region occupies an area of 0.51 mil m2. Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, western and southern Andhra Pradesh,
west Jharkhand, and the remaining area of Rajasthan have the photovoltaic power
potential ranging between 1533.00 kWh/kWp and 1630.00 kWh/kWp and are also
suitable to harness solar energy in large quantities. The combination of these three
potential zones covers an area of 2.08 km2 and they overlap with regions having
178 K. Roychowdhury and R. Bhanja

Fig. 3 State-wise distribution of PVOUT in India

greater DNI values. Therefore, investing in large-scale utility solar plants like CSPs
will be of greater advantage to the government in shifting the power sector towards
renewables sustainably. The initial cost of installation and production may be high,
but will bring forth massive long-term benefit monetarily and through environment
protection and conservation.
A Spatial Investigation of the Feasibility of Solar Resource Energy Potential. . . 179

3.3 Solar Economic Potential Zones of India

In this study, the solar economic potential zones were delimited on the basis of the
different types of economic benefits provided by each state government to its
investors, mainly in terms of the number of eligible producers, provision for land
allotment, provision for banking of power, and monetary incentives. It is believed
that a greater number of eligible producers will invite a variety of solar projects in a
city or the state. Most of the governments restrict their policies to registered
companies who are eligible through bidding system conducted by the respective
governments. On the other hand, it is observed that the policies which allow more
number of producers to tap solar energy usually provide more monetary incentives to
the investors, and therefore they attract funds and investments easily from different
parts of the state. If land incentives are provided by the government, then the project
developer can invest extra money into solar-efficient technologies. The banking of
electricity refers to the process by which the power generated from electricity
generating station is supplied to the grid and often sold to a third party. In such a
situation, the generating station has the authority to draw back the electricity
supplied from the grid for its own use. As the number of years for banking of
electricity increases, the receiving station gets ample time to generate the required
fund to repay the generating station. In this way, energy-deficit regions can make use
of renewable energy to lighten their areas in a sustainable manner. Other monetary
incentives include subsidies provided by the government to promote the develop-
ment of solar power systems in their jurisdiction.
The economic feasible zone can be easily identified in Fig. 4. The solar policies of
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Bihar, Meghalaya, and Mizoram provide maximum number of economic incentives
by allowing maximum number of producers to be eligible to tap solar energy; these
governments are ready to provide necessary land to project developers with the
lowest bid in solar energy generation tenders. These states also provide maximum
number of subsidies to its investors. The average performing states include Punjab,
Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, and Assam. Their
average performance is a result of lower number of banking facilities and monetary
incentives provided by the government. The remaining states like West Bengal,
Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh have very little contri-
bution toward an effective solar energy policy, and therefore have performed very
poorly in the solar economic feasibility section of the study.

3.4 Viability of Solar Cities Mission

The concept of the solar city is manifold as it embraces definitions oscillating from a
decentralized solar approach to a reduction in conventional sources of energy and
meeting sustainable energy needs (Byrne et al. 2015; Kim et al. 2006). The global
180 K. Roychowdhury and R. Bhanja

Fig. 4 Total number of economic benefits provided by each state government to its investors,
mainly in terms of the number of eligible producers (a), provision for land allotment (b), provision
for banking of power (c), and monetary incentives (d)

cities located in high solar potential areas are involved in deployment of rooftop
solar PV technologies in urban environment (Byrne and Taminiau 2018; Peng and
Lu 2013). These studies mainly concentrate on the estimation of PV-suitable roof
area as a means to address the dual-energy challenges within their city boundaries.
The Indian cities are rarely planned and architecturally aesthetic to comply with the
international standards in addressing solar energy accessibility challenges. There-
fore, there is a need to delineate areas that are not only suitable for PV installations in
rooftop areas but also construction of large-scale solar parks with CSP facilities.
Therefore, in this study, a GIS-based MCDA method was applied to identify the
cities with the maximum potential to successfully fulfil the ambitious solar city
project.
In order to deploy SPVs in the solar cities, the conditions that were considered
necessary are as follows: high GHI, maximum PVOUT, and the highest number of
economic benefits that will be provided by the government. Similarly, the best cities
to tap solar energy from CSPs include the same options, except the higher GHI
values are replaced with higher DNI values. TOPSIS method was used to determine
which cities have the best potential to invest in SPVs and CSPs for the renewable
energy generation within and surrounding their administrative boundaries. It was
observed that (Fig. 5) for the deployment of SPVs, Rajkot, Gandhinagar, and Shirdi
from west India and Mahbubnagar and Vijayawada from southeast India have the
highest technoeconomic potential for the deployment of SPVs within their urban
A Spatial Investigation of the Feasibility of Solar Resource Energy Potential. . . 181

Fig. 5 Solar City suitability analysis using TOPSIS method for determination of cities suitable for
harnessing solar from SPVs (a) and CSPs (b)

boundaries. Around 15 cities fall in the second-best technoeconomic feasible zone,

mainly all the cities of Maharashtra and Kerala as well as the cities of Ajmer,
Jodhpur, Raipur, Mysore, Leh, and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The solar
cities of Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Kerala, which show a higher technologically and
economically solar energy resource potential have already set ambitious targets to
achieve the SCM by 2022. The Gujarat government is ready to install 8 lakh rooftop
solar PV in residences by 2022 and the surplus electricity generated through such
systems will be bought at Rs 2.25 per unit (The Indian Express 2019). Such
initiatives further boost the urbanites to install the cost intensive SPVs in their
urban rooftops. These cities are also ideal to develop large-scale solar plants in
their vicinity to fulfil the cities’ energy demand.
The cities which have the potential to generate solar energy without much risk
include the remaining cities falling in west India, Chandigarh, Mohali, and the solar
cities of Central India. Although Chandigarh falls in this category, but has substan-
tially progressed in achieving the targets set in their SCM Master Plan. Chandigarh
and its surrounding solar cities have the potential to generate electricity from large-
scale CSPs as they have a higher technoeconomic potential for the deployment of
CSPs than SPVs. The solar cities falling in central and east India have lower
technoeconomic potential for the deployment of SPVs and CSPs, and therefore the
government administering these cities should be prepared to take the risk before
developing the SCM Master Plans and setting SCM targets. MNRE has achieved
25% of its ambitious target till date, and aims to achieve the remaining 75% of the
target by 2022. However, achieving such ambitious projects do not depend only on
financial incentives; other factors like lack of knowledge about energy systems,
182 K. Roychowdhury and R. Bhanja

inconsistent pricing structure, technical and market barriers, and socioeconomic

constraints can hinder the success rates of these projects (Painuly 2001).

4 Conclusion

The renewable energy infrastructure planning and energy system modelling from
centralized generation of electricity to a decentralized one is very challenging. The
future energy landscapes may generate optimum amount of electricity when their
effectiveness in studied spatially. The integration of GIS science with the planning
and modelling of renewable energy systems incorporates a space and time factor in
the modelling process. Although the application GIS in energy system modelling is
in the infant stage, the integration of GIS and decision-making approaches in
renewable energy studies will enhance the future research avenues in this field.
This study open new horizons for “spatial awareness” from freely available data
sources of solar energy resources, and thus this study examines the viability of
technoeconomic potential of solar energy resources in different solar cities of India
as a means to assess the viability of the Solar Cities Mission program in all these
cities. Here, for the first time, a multivariate approach to exploring the
technoeconomic feasibility of solar cities using the TOPSIS approach was conducted
to study the spatial allocation of solar energy resources all over India. The cities
located in the west and south India have the highest potential to tap solar energy in
the form of SPVs and CSPs and, therefore, maximum investment should be directed
in electrifying these cities from solar energy. The National Solar Mission and the
SCM are smart initiatives by the Indian government to mandate the use of renewable
energy in the Indian cities. A gradual shift to renewable energy is mandatory for
India to secure citizens from the perils of climate change and global warming.

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