Türkiye's installed solar power capacity surpassed 20,000 megawatts (MW) as of mid-February, marking an increase of nearly 40% compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.
The total capacity reached 20,398 MW as of Feb. 16 – a 39.3% increase year-over-year.
During the same period, Türkiye's total electricity installed capacity was recorded as 116,587 MW. With the commissioning of rooftop, field and hybrid power plants, the solar energy installed capacity surpassed 20,398 MW.
Solar power plants, which make up the second largest capacity within renewable energy sources after hydroelectric plants, now account for 17.5% of the total installed capacity, data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) showed. This figure was 13.8% on Feb. 16 of last year.
Türkiye plans to raise its solar and wind energy installed capacity to 120,000 MW by 2035. Achieving this target requires installing 4,000-5,000 MW of solar capacity annually, along with additional capacity increases.
Currently, electricity production from solar energy costs 50% less than electricity produced from coal and natural gas.
Despite its lower cost, the main challenge of solar energy is that electricity production stops without sunlight.
Starting in 2026, the commissioning of storage-based solar power plants will allow continuity in electricity generation from solar energy.
Additionally, there are three experimental agricultural solar energy projects in the solar energy sector.
There are 75 photovoltaic panel manufacturers in Türkiye, with an annual production capacity of approximately 44.5 gigawatts (GW). Currently, three of these solar panel manufacturers produce 6.1 GW of solar cells domestically per year.
