# GIS-Based Site Suitability Analysis for Solar Power Systems in Mongolia
## 6 Conclusions  
In this study, we identified areas that are potentially suitable for the installation of large-scale PV power plants. Seven criteria, including annual global horizontal radiation, temperature, elevation, slope, aspect, distance from a main road, and distance from a major power line, were considered, and were formulated using GIS into a database as raster datasets, at a 30 \(\times\) 30 m resolution. The GIS layers were rated at four grades (25, 50, 75, and 100), and their weightings were determined using the AHP, by considering the opinions of 10 experts from the solar-electric field. By combining the seven rated GIS layers with their weightings, a PV system installation suitability map, which classified areas of Mongolia into good, fair, low, and poor site suitability grades, was created. Areas with good and fair grades accounted for 3.27% and 53.06% of Mongolia, respectively, whereas low and  
Figure 12: Power consumption and population for each Mongolian regional administrative area. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Min** & **Max** & **Range** & **Mean** &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Standard** \\ **Deviation** \\ \end{tabular} & **Majority** & **Minority** \\ \hline Center & 25 & 100 & 75 & 65.68 & 14.42 & 75 & 25 \\ \hline Eastern & 25 & 75 & 50 & 57.83 & 11.75 & 50 & 25 \\ \hline Altai–Uliastai & 25 & 100 & 75 & 65.01 & 12.55 & 75 & 100 \\ \hline Southern & 25 & 100 & 75 & 78.72 & 8.99 & 75 & 25 \\ \hline Western & 25 & 75 & 50 & 55.31 & 11.18 & 50 & 25 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Statistical analysis of each Mongolian administrative area’s suitability score. poor grades accounted for 42.59% and 1.08%, respectively. Areas with good grades were concentrated in southern and central Mongolia; hence, considering power demand and population, the central area was selected as the top priority for installing PV power plants. In recent years, the global trend in the use of renewable energy has been increasing, with emerging interest in it as an investment. The national government has begun implementing targeted policies to support renewable energy in Mongolia, which currently supplies only 17% of its domestic energy capacity. The main issues related to large solar installations are high investment costs and identifying the most suitable plant locations, and resolving these issues can be considered the most important step in the development of this sector. Therefore, by offering screening data for PV site suitability analysis for Mongolia, the findings of this study are expected to benefit researchers, industry professionals, and policy-makers. Referring to these data can positively bridge the communications and decision-making gaps between academia, industry, and the general public. There are a few limitations to this study. First, this study used the GHI data obtained from the Global Solar Atlas [16]; however, no comparison between the GHI data used in this study and those measured at the ground stations was performed, because climate data are limited in Mongolia. GHI data collected at many ground stations in Mongolia can provide more accurate results of PV site suitability through the verification of data. Second, this study analyzed the PV site suitability at the national scale, considering seven criteria. For the actual implementation of PV power plants, detailed analysis is required, considering additional criteria and high-resolution spatial data that can be obtained at the local scale. Third, this study analyzed PV site suitability by comparison and, therefore, the rated values were given for the seven criteria on a relative scale of good, fair, low, or poor. More justifications on the rating criteria are needed in order to conclusively evaluate PV site suitability. Therefore, future research activities must include improving the combination between GIS and MCDA methods in order to comprehensively analyze PV site suitability in Mongolia using more reliable and verified data obtained at the local scale. Conceptualization, Y.C. ; methodology, Y.C.