A GIS Approach of Potential Photovoltaic Power Sites in Niamey, Niger

Abstract

Nowadays, the daily conversations at summits and conferences are mainly about energy, climate change, and environmental issues. Fossil fuels are the main causes of global warming due to the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere, leading to a change in the climate. Niger, as an emerging nation, has significant energy potential that is weakly exploited due to socioeconomic factors. Multi-criteria analysis and satellite imagery were utilized to generate the potential photovoltaic (PV) energy maps. Three sites were selected as the most suitable places: 1) Site A with 22.5% or 12.154km2 ; Site B with 53.33% or 28.82 km2 ; and Site C with 10.23% or 5.53 km2 . The average annual energy potential of the selected sites was found to be 45.13 GWh. This energy potential was based on the: 1) calculated average annual solar radiation per unit surface area; 2) total suitable areas; and 3) efficiency of the PV panels.