Solar Power Geography Analysis

Solar Power Land Suitability Analysis in the Contiguous United States for GEO 479 GIS Environmental Modeling, Geography Department, University at Buffalo

GEO 479 Final Report

Solar Power Land Suitability: Analysis in the Contiguous United States

Map: Annual Cloudy Days United States

The two worst locations in the country if you desire a clear sky are Buffalo-Niagara and the Pacific Northwest. As many might suspect, the American Southwest is clear sky country. However, Florida is not as suitable for solar power.

Map: Total Hours of Sunlight American Southwest

Total hours of sunlight, important for solar energy conversion. The converage is roughly inverse to cloudiness. Included are cities of significant population; this confirms that the region has significant consumer demand for electricity.

Map: Utility Grid in American Southwest

A critical bottle neck with the construction of any type of power facility is access to the electrical grid. The 1:1,000,000-scale ONCs on the first map show Nevada and Arizona with particular large tracts of federal lands proximate to the electrical grid.

Map: Federal Land for Solar Power Construction

The data set was created by extracting federal land polygon features from the individual 1:2,000,000-scale State boundary Digital Line Graph (DLG) files produced by the U.S. Geological Survey. It is restricted to only open BLM land and the Department of Energy property.

Map: Federal Lands Proximate to Utility Grid

A critical bottle neck with the construction of any type of power facility is access to the electrical grid. The Defense Mapping Agency's Operational Navigation Charts detail all main power corridors. The map shows land that lies with in an acceptable 20 km buffer about the main power corridors.

Map: Candidate Sites in Tucson, Arizona

The City of Tucson is in the bottom left. Note the main power corridors from the ONCs with the dashed green line. Underneath is a select Digital Elevation Model grid at 1:24,000 scale from USGS.

Map: Acceptable Sites in Tucson, Arizona

The City of Tucson is in the bottom left. The tracts of Federal land proximate the power corridor but on moutain tops are unfavorable for reasons of slope and asethics. Final candidate sites are on Federal Land in the light purple region with ideal elevation and slope.