Multi-criteria decision making for different concentrated solar thermal power technologies

•Concentrated solar thermal power technologies are discussed.•Technical, economical, and environmental aspects are summarized.•Three groups of MCDM are applied on the different technologies.•Solar dish power is the best choice. Solar thermal power technologies are promising renewable energy sources that could replace the conventional fossil fuel power plants. Parabolic trough collector (PTC), linear Fresnel reflector (LFR), solar power tower (SPT), and Solar power dish (SPD) are the commercial concentrated solar thermal power technologies. Technical, economical, and environmental aspects are varied from one technology to another. Deciding the best solar thermal power technology is quite important for the commercial applications. In order to decide the best technology, based on 22 criterions including the technical (9), economical (2), and environmental (11) aspects, different multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) models were applied. The main parameters of the MCDM model that determine the rating of alternatives include the choice of the method of normalization of the matrix of decisions, the choice of the method for evaluating the weights of the criteria and the choice of the method of aggregation of attributes when determining the indicator of the effectiveness of alternatives. Three different groups of MCDM methods are defined as a method for aggregating attributes in determining the performance indicator of alternatives: based on a weighted sum approach (WSM, WPM, WAPRAS), based on the concept of distance or distance from the desired object (TOPSIS, GRA, VIKOR), and based on the approach of aggregating local ratings based on setting the preference function (PROMETHEE-II). According to the results of all models, alternative A4 that represents the solar power dish technology is the best selection among the different solar technologies. A4 is winner (first rank I) for about 65% of considered cases followed by A3 that represents solar power tower technology. A3 is winner (first rank I) for about 35% of considered cases.