Explorative spatial data mining for energy technology adoption and policy design analysis

Spatial data mining aims at the discovery of unknown, useful patterns from large spatial datasets. This article presents a thorough analysis of the Portuguese adopters of distributed energy resources using explorative spatial data mining techniques. Results show clustering of distributed energy resources that currently passing the early adoption stage in Portugal. Furthermore, spatial adoption patterns are simulated over a 20 year horizon, analyzing technology concentration changes over time while comparing three different energy policy designs. Outcomes provide useful indication for both electrical network planning and energy policy design.