Determination of Solar Energy Potential in Gaziantep Province by Analytical Hierarchy Process Method (AHP)

The use of renewable energy sources is rapidly increasing as a natural and long-lasting alternative along with the growing demand for energy supply today. One of the most inexpensive and environmentally-friendly resources is solar energy. Turkey is a country in which solar energy potential is quite high and where the share of solar energy in energy production has increased recently. The region with the highest solar energy potential in Turkey is the Southeastern Anatolian Region. The region has a potential above the average in Turkey in terms of annual sunshine duration and the total amount of annual solar radiation. As the sixth largest Turkish city, Gaziantep has a leading role in trade both within the province and with the Middle East, and so its energy need is significantly greater than those of the neighboring provinces. For this reason, Gaziantep was selected for the field of study and the solar energy efficiency map of Gaziantep province was drawn using parameters such as land use, distance to transformers, average temperature, global sunbathing condition, average sunbathing time, slope, aspect and distance to main transportation routes. In order to create this map, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used, which is a multi-criteria decision-making method. According to the results of the study, approximately 8% of the physical land of Gaziantep is classed as definitely ideal whereas 44% of the land is classed as ideal for solar energy efficiency.