Assessing the increase of solar fields in Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

[EN] Spanish electrical generation has traditionally included high pollutant energy resources, like fuel or carbon. However, disturbing ever-increase in the average temperature of Planet Earth has led to a search for sustainability in the energy scenario. Therefore, Spanish electrical generation mix is prone to replace contaminant energy resources by non-contaminant, such renewables. Concretely, Spain is one of the countries with more solar peak annual hours. Nevertheless, having enough space to increase solar fields has been widely question. In this paper, an unrealistic scenario where all the annual Spanish consumption would be covered by photovoltaics is deeply analysed. Considering real electrical Spanish consumption data from 2017, required total quantity of solar panels has been quantified. Additionally, the study takes the hypothesis that all the panels should be placed on Spanish desert zones for two main reasons. First, total solar peak annual hours there are higher than in other Spanish regions. Last, making there the installation would give use to previous wasted zones. Obtained results indicate that around 691 million of 330Wp solar panels would be required for this issue, taking up 492175 km2. This space means only a 0.77% of all Iberian Peninsula. These outcomes clearly show that there is suitable and enough space to increase solar fields in Iberian Peninsula.