Renewable Energy Opportunity Analysis

The Renewable Energy Opportunity Analysis is now available as a statewide, interactive, online map at cals.arizona.edu/reoa  

Cooperative Extension’s Land Use Planning and Sustainable Development Program was requested by several counties in southeastern Arizona to conduct analyses for solar energy development potential within their jurisdictions. Subsequently, the analysis was expanded to include every county and community in Arizona. This analysis, using the Renewable Energy Opportunity Analysis (REOA) model, will aid counties, cities and towns in developing sound land use policies for siting solar energy facilities.      

While many factors go into siting solar facilities, REOA assesses fundamental physical and economic opportunities and constraints on any given piece of land, such as slope, aspect, proximity to transmission lines, sub-stations, roads, and others. The resulting outputs should help renewable energy developers, communities and decision makers begin the more complex task of focusing on specific regions of any given county or city and conducting feasibility studies. The reports explain the methodology behind the analysis, summarize the results, and provide some direction for the use of the outputs. The maps illustrate the outputs for specific regions of the state.