From technical potential to governance-constrained deployment: A hybrid GIS–MCDA assessment of photovoltaic suitability in the West Bank

Identifying suitable locations for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) deployment is challenging in regions where environmental constraints, infrastructure availability, and governance structures jointly influence land accessibility. This study develops a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework to assess PV suitability across the West Bank. Seventeen spatial factors were considered, comprising 11 weighted evaluation criteria, five hard spatial constraints, and one scenario-specific governance constraint (Area C). The evaluation criteria were integrated through a hybrid weighting approach combining the Level-Based Weight Assessment (LBWA) and entropy methods, while the five hard spatial constraints were implemented as exclusion masks. Area C was treated separately as a scenario-specific governance constraint. The hybrid approach combines expert-based prioritization with data-driven spatial variability. Three scenarios were evaluated: (1) full-area unconstrained suitability, (2) environmentally constrained full-area suitability, and (3) Area C-excluded suitability retaining Areas A and B. High and Very High suitability declined from 44.00% of the total GIS analysis area (≈2489 km 2 ) in Scenario 1 to 30.67% after hard spatial constraints and 7.19% after Area C exclusion, with increasing spatial fragmentation. The results indicate that environmental, infrastructural, and governance-related spatial constraints substantially reshape PV development opportunities. The proposed framework provides a structured regional-scale screening approach integrating physical suitability with planning constraints. It may be adapted to other regions where comparable spatial data and locally appropriate criteria are available; however, identified candidate areas require site-specific technical, environmental, land-tenure, grid-connection, and economic assessment before project development.