Investigation of the optimal location design of a hybrid wind-solar plant: A case study.

This study aims to determine the best location for the construction of a wind-solar hybrid plant in Fars, Iran. For this purpose, seven regions of the Fars province are studied in terms of four criteria of economic, social, and geological conditions as well as natural disasters. First, the most important factors, wind power and solar irradiation, are obtained by using the Weibull distribution function and the Angstrom–Prescott equation based on the long-term 3-hourly data pertaining to 2006–2015 collected from the Iran Meteorological Organization, respectively. The data analysis and ranking are performed with the fuzzy TOPSIS. The results show that Eghlid is the best option for the construction of a wind-solar plant. According to the obtained results, the cities of Firuzabad, Estahban, Safashahr, Bavanat, Izadkhast and Arsanjan hold the next ranks in terms of suitability for the construction of solar-wind hybrid plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]