Solar energy potential mapping in Ukraine through integration of GIS, remote sensing, and fuzzy logic

The Green Deal strategic plan for the development of renewable energy until 2030 is of particular importance in the context of the restoration of Ukraine’s post-war energy infrastructure. One of the key topics is the analysis of the possibilities of installing large solar power plants in Ukraine. In this article, a multi-criteria analysis of the suitability of the territory of Ukraine is carried out on the basis of climatic, topographic and land use criteria. To assess land suitability, criteria standardized using fuzzy logic with weights determined by experts through the method of pairwise comparisons were combined using a weighted sum model. Upon completing the study, a suitability map was generated, depicting zones with varying levels of suitability (ranging from 0 to 1) for solar power plant placement. It was found that more than 35.68% of the country has average values of the suitability index (0.65–0.7), and approximately 18.82% show high indicators (<0.7). Conditions are especially favorable in the south of Ukraine.