Optimal site selection for Solar PV Farms in Northern Morocco using the AHP approach and GIS tools

Renewable energy is seen as a solution to mitigate climate change and reduce fossil fuel consumption, particularly for countries heavily reliant on energy imports. Morocco began developing new renewable energy projects years ago, leveraging its ample solar and wind power potential. This paper aims to identify appropriate sites for solar PV farms in the Northern region of Morocco based on 8 specific criteria. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to calculate and assess weights to each criterion, while Geographic Information System tools were applied to generate maps depicting these criteria and combine themes to produce a final suitability map for solar PV farms in that area. The findings indicate that $20.2 \%$ of Morocco’s Northern region surface is categorized as very highly suitable, with $0.1 \%$ being highly suitable, $11.1 \%$ considered as suitable, $4.6 \%$ falling under low suitability, while very low suitability encompasses $8.6 \%$, leaving approximately $55.4 \%$ classified as unsuitable areas.