Abstract
With the recent accelerated policy-making and interests in new renewable energy, plans to develop and supply the new renewable energy have been devised across multiple regions in Korea. Solar energy, in particular, is being applied to small-scale power supply in provincial areas, as solar cells are used to convert solar energy into electric energy to produce electric power. Nonetheless, in the case of solar power plants, the need for a large stretch of land and considerable sum of financial support implies that the planning step should take into consideration the most suitable meteorological and geographical factors. In this study, the proxy variables of meteorological and geographical factors associated with solar energy were considered in analyzing the vulnerable areas regarding the photovoltaic power generation facility across the nation. GIS was used in the spatial analysis to develop a map for assessing the optimal location for photovoltaic power generation facility. The final vulnerability map developed in this study did not reveal any areas that exhibit vulnerability level 5 (very high) or 1 (very low). Jeollanam-do showed the largest value of vulnerability level 4 (high), while a large value of vulnerability level 3 (moderate) was shown by several administrative districts including Gwangju metropolitan city, Jeollabuk-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Gangwon-do. A value of vulnerability level 2 (low) was shown by the metropolitan cities including Daegu, Ulsan, and Incheon. When the 30 currently operating solar power plants were compared and reviewed, most were found to be in an area of vulnerability level 2 or 3, indicating that the locations were relatively suitable for solar energy. However, the limited data quantity for solar power plants, which is the limitation of this study, prevents the accuracy of the findings to be clearly established. Nevertheless, the significance of this study lies in that an attempt has been made to assess the vulnerability map for photovoltaic power generation facility targeting various regions across the nation, through the use of the GIS-based spatial analysis technique that takes into account the diverse meteorological and geographical factors. Furthermore, by presenting the data obtained for all regions across the nation, the findings of this study are likely to prove useful as the basic data in fields related to the photovoltaic power generation.
본 연구에서는 전국을 대상으로 태양광에너지와 관련된 기상 및 지형 대리변수를 고려하여 태양광발전 시설에 대한 취약지역을 분석하였으며, GIS를 이용하여 공간분석을 통해 태양광발전 시설의 적정입지에 대한 평가용 지도를 개발하였다. 본 연구에서 최종적으로 개발된 태양광발전 시설에 대한 취약지도에서는 '취약단계 5(매우 취약)' 지역과 '취약단계 1(매우좋음)' 지역은 나타나지 않았다. '취약단계 4(취약)' 지역은 전라남도가 가장 크게 나타났으며, '취약단계3(보통)' 지역은 광주광역시, 전라북도, 충청북도 및 강원도 등 다수의 행정구역에서 높은 것으로 나타났다. '취약단계 2(좋음)' 지역은 대구광역시, 울산광역시 및 인천광역시 등이 높은 것으로 나타났다. 현재 운영되고 있는 태양광발전소 30곳을 비교 검토한 결과, 대부분 취약단계 2 및 3단계 지역에 위치하며, 상대적으로 태양광에너지가 적합한 지역에 위치함을 나타냈다. 하지만 본 연구의 한계점인 태양광발전소의 제한적인 자료량으로 인해 본 연구결과의 정확성을 명확하게 평가하기는 어렵다. 그럼에도 불구하고 본 연구에서는 GIS 공간분석 기법을 이용하여 다양한 기상 및 지형요소들을 고려하여 전국을 대상으로 태양광발전시설에 대한 취약지도 평가를 시도하였으며, 국내 전 지역에 대한 자료를 제시함으로써 태양광발전과 관련된 부분에 기초자료로 활용할 수 있을 것이다.
