Economic, environmental and energy analysis of the utilization of renewable energy based on Analytic Hierarchy Process: a case study

Due to the growing reduction of fossil fuels and, on the other hand, the emission of pollution due to the use of these fuels, renewable energy is a very good alternative to produce the required energy. In the meantime, wind and solar energy are very important due to simple technology and production of energy with high capacities. To make the best use of renewable energy, the first step is to measure the potential of the studied areas using the analytic hierarchy process method. To do this, economically influential variables (investment, maintenance costs, energy costs, revenue, rate of return on investment) and environmental variables (global impact (greenhouse gases), regional pollution, health) for utilization of renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass) were studied in eight cities of Ardabil province. The combined system of photovoltaic cell with wind turbine in Ardabil city makes it the most prone area in the province with a return on investment of 2.61 yr. The amount of energy produced for this region is 47944 kW hr/yr.