LAPSE:2018.0512
Published Article
LAPSE:2018.0512
Solar Panel Supplier Selection for the Photovoltaic System Design by Using Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Approaches
Tien-Chin Wang, Su-Yuan Tsai
September 21, 2018
The period of industrialization and modernization has increased energy demands around the world. As with other countries, the Taiwanese government is trying to increase the proportion of renewable energy, especially solar energy resources. Thus, there are many solar power plants built in Taiwan. One of the most important components of a solar power plant is the solar panel. The solar panel supplier selection process is a complex and multi-faceted decision that can reduce the cost of purchasing equipment and supply this equipment on time. In this research, we propose fuzzy MCDM approach that includes fuzzy analytical hierarchy process model (FAHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) for evaluation and selection of solar panel supplier for a photovoltaic system design in Taiwan. The main objective of this work is to design a fuzzy MCDM approach for solar panel supplier selection based on qualitative and quantitative factors. In the first step of this research, FAHP is applied to define the priority of suppliers. The AHP combined with fuzzy logic (FAHP) can be used to rank suppliers; however, the disadvantages of the FAHP model is that input data, expressed in linguistic terms, depends on experience of experts and the number of suppliers is practically limited, because of the number of pairwise comparison matrices. Thus, we applied several DEA models for ranking potential suppliers in the final stages. As the result, decision making unit 1 (DMU 1) is the optimal solar panel supplier for photovoltaic system design in Taiwan. The contribution of this research is a new fuzzy MCDM for supplier selection under fuzzy environment conditions. This paper also lies in the evolution of a new approach that is flexible and practical to the decision maker. It provides a useful guideline for solar panel supplier selection in many countries as well as a guideline for supplier selection in other industries.
Keywords
DEA, FAHP, fuzzy logic, Renewable Energy, solar panel, supplier selection
Suggested Citation
Wang TC, Tsai SY. Solar Panel Supplier Selection for the Photovoltaic System Design by Using Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Approaches. (2018). LAPSE:2018.0512
Author Affiliations
Wang TC: Department of International Business, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City 821, Taiwan
Tsai SY: Department of International Business, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung City 821, Taiwan
[Login] to see author email addresses.
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
11
Issue
8
Article Number
E1989
Year
2018
Publication Date
2018-07-31
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
Version Comments
Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: en11081989, Publication Type: Journal Article
Record Map
Published Article

LAPSE:2018.0512
This Record
External Link

doi:10.3390/en11081989
Publisher Version
Download
Files
Sep 21, 2018
Main Article
License
CC BY 4.0
Meta
Record Statistics
Record Views
740
Version History
[v1] (Original Submission)
Sep 21, 2018
 
Verified by curator on
Sep 21, 2018
This Version Number
v1
Citations
Most Recent
This Version
URL Here
https://psecommunity.org/LAPSE:2018.0512
 
Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
Links to Related Works
Directly Related to This Work
Publisher Version