Türkiye can expand solar by 120 GW through rooftops

Türkiye has a rooftop solar technical potential of at least 120 GW, which could meet 45% of the country's 2022 electricity consumption. Despite this potential, solar's share of generation lags behind northern European countries. The report highlights that expanding rooftop solar could reduce residential electricity subsidies, which totaled approximately $3.6 billion from September 2022 to August 2023, and help industries avoid EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) penalties. It recommends implementing installation obligations for new buildings and adopting virtual net metering for apartments, drawing on successful global examples from China, Poland, and the Netherlands.

• Türkiye's technical rooftop solar potential is estimated at a minimum of 120 GW, which is nearly ten times the current installed solar capacity. This potential could cover 45% of the nation's total electricity consumption based on 2022 data.
• The highest capacity potential is concentrated in the most populous provinces: Istanbul (10.4 GW), Ankara (10.1 GW), and Izmir (9.3 GW). Industrialized provinces like Kocaeli, Manisa, and Tekirdağ also show high potential due to the prevalence of flat roofs on industrial facilities.
• Expanding rooftop solar could significantly reduce the Turkish treasury's burden for residential electricity subsidies, which amounted to approximately $3.6 billion between September 2022 and August 2023.
• Rooftop solar provides a strategic pathway for Turkish industry to mitigate the financial impact of the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as electricity produced within a facility is considered clean energy under CBAM rules.
• Residential adoption in Türkiye is hindered by a lengthy bureaucratic process; a study by Solar3GW indicates it takes 27 weeks to complete a residential system, with only one week spent on actual installation.
• Global trends show that rooftop solar now accounts for nearly half of all new solar capacity worldwide, with 118 GW of the 239 GW added in 2022 installed on rooftops.
• The report suggests that Türkiye could rapidly increase capacity by mandating solar installations on new buildings, noting that approximately 130,000 new building permits are issued annually, with further increases expected from earthquake reconstruction.

APA

Alparslan, U., & Yıldırım, A. (2023). Türkiye can expand solar by 120 GW through rooftops. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Turkiye-can-expand-solar-by-120-GW-through-rooftops-1.pdf

Chicago

Alparslan, Ufuk, and Azem Yıldırım. Türkiye can expand solar by 120 GW through rooftops. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Turkiye-can-expand-solar-by-120-GW-through-rooftops-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Alparslan |first1=Ufuk |last2=Yıldırım |first2=Azem |title=Türkiye can expand solar by 120 GW through rooftops |publisher=Ember |date=11 December 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Turkiye-can-expand-solar-by-120-GW-through-rooftops-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{alparslan2023trkiye, author = {Alparslan, Ufuk and Yıldırım, Azem}, title = {{Türkiye can expand solar by 120 GW through rooftops}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2023/12/Turkiye-can-expand-solar-by-120-GW-through-rooftops-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }