Environmental Limitations of the Use of Solar Energy in the Carpathian Region

Abstract. The purpose of the work is to study the environmental limitations of using solar energy in the Carpathian region of Ukraine. Problem. A number of main restrictions affecting the location of solar power plants are highlighted, which are analyzed in the process of carrying out a strategic environmental assessment and are substantiated by calculation in the process of the environmental impact assessment procedure. For solar power plant projects, the main environmental limitation is the use of land areas. In the Carpathian region, plots under solar power plants must bypass agricultural land, recreational and touristic use, buffer zones of nature reserves. An important technical limitation is the ability to connect solar power plants to electrical networks. Methodology. In the course of the research, the regression analysis of the dependence of the amount of electricity produced by the experimental solar power plant at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas on meteorological parameters was further developed using statistical processing of a series of observations. Results. Originality. It was determined that the air temperature has the greatest influence on the production of electrical energy with a correlation coefficient of 0.919. A direct linear relationship indicates an increase in power generation with an increase in air temperature up to +250C. Relative humidity has a fairly significant effect on the generation of solar energy. The resulting correlation coefficient of 0.776 indicates a close relationship between the two data series. When the humidity increases to 76%, the production of electricity by solar photovoltaic panels increases and decreases with a further increase in humidity from 75 to 100 %, which is associated with an increase in cloudiness under such weather conditions. Wind speed also has a strong correlation with solar power generation. Electricity production increases in conditions of low wind or almost windless weather with a wind speed value of up to 2.9 m/s and decreases with a further increase in wind speed. Practical value. The obtained significant regularities will be of practical importance for the justification of environmental restrictions when using solar energy for the conditions of the city of Ivano-Frankivsk.