An estimation of solar energy potential using point solar radiation tool in ARC-GIS: A case study of College of Engineering, Pune

In the day of energy crisis, fossil fuels becoming scare day by day due to limited reserves. Hence, the time has to come to depend on renewable energy, which is called as “Clean Energy”, “Green Energy” as well as “Alternative Energy”. Solar energy is one of the most important renewable energy available since the historical time. Now in this era of 21st century everyone is trying to establish solar PV plants. Most of the times educational institutes setup the renewable energy plants without taking into consideration of its viability. The main aim of the present research work is to estimate solar energy potential employing point solar radiation tool in ArcGIS, in CoEP Campus. The investigations are based on the primary data that are analyzed using point solar radiation tool in ArcGIS. Google sketch-up along with excel and Open Data Tool for PV potential is also used. The study reveals that the institution has slightly variation in spatio-temporal pattern of global solar radiation. It is estimated that 2282.4 KWp electricity can be generated by installation of PV plants in the CoEP campus.