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• A method is proposed to screen vast territories with the aim of individuating optimal locations for large-scale solar plants. • The proposed method is based on Pareto dominance and it is assumptions-free. • The whole Italian territory is screened by using five key indicators. • An analysis of economic viability is further conducted on the same territory. • Sicily and Sardinia are the Italian regions with the highest number of optimal and economic viable locations. Increasing the exploitation of renewable energy sources (RES) is a key element for reducing the detrimental consequences of greenhouse-gases emissions and for satisfying the growing demand for energy. Solar power plays a central role having the potential to completely satisfy the world energetic needs. Locating optimal sites for installing solar plants is therefore an important task deeply affecting the long term profitability of such plants. The present paper proposes a filtering method to select a subset of efficient locations in order to reduce the dimensionality of the original problem when a large territory is screened for locating optimal sites for large-scale solar plants. It is based on the idea of preference relations and Pareto dominance and, avoiding to operate an inter-comparison of different locations' attributes, it can be considered assumptions-free. Moreover, the paper applies such filtering method, together with an analysis of economic viability, to Italy, a country with relatively high potentials in terms of solar energy that currently lacks an optimal site selection analysis. Once applied, the filter reduces the original set of feasible locations by more than 99%. The resulting Pareto efficient locations, evaluated through five selected criteria, are concentrated in the southern part of Italy and, particularly, in the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, where also the economic viable locations are mostly found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]