Türkiye installs 4.7 GW of solar in 2025
- Özcan Berk Atakan
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Türkiye’s cumulative solar capacity is approaching 25 GW after another strong year for new deployments, led by installations for self-consumption in the commercial and industrial market.
Türkiye deployed 4,694 MW of new solar in 2025, according to data from the country’s national transmission system operator TEİAŞ, taking cumulative solar capacity to 24,795 MW.
Although down on the record amount of solar deployed in 2024, 2025’s figures represent continued momentum for Türkiye’s solar market, after 3.1 GW was added in the first half of the year and the country surpassed its annual deployment target by the end of June.
Unlicensed power plants generating electricity for self-consumption made up 4,175 MW of added solar in 2025 and now account for a total 22,255 MW.
Bahadır Sercan Gümüş, energy analyst at Ember, told pv magazine the share of residential solar in this figure is “negligibly small”, meaning nearly all of the unlicensed solar capacity in 2025 came from the C&I segment.
Gümüş explained that through most of 2025, businesses benefited from a policy mechanism that allowed solar power plants for self-consumption to be located in a different location from the consumption point. “However, this situation changed in the last quarter of 2025,” Gümüş advised. “Even if the law has not been repealed, announcements from TEİAŞ indicate that projects at the same location will now be prioritized.”
The remaining 521 MW added in 2025 comes from licensed power plants, which now contribute to a total 2,540 MW of solar in Türkiye.
Gümüş said he expects some momentum in the installed capacity of licensed power plants in 2026, thanks to the project pipelines from previous Renewable Energy Resource Zone (YEKA) tenders, which stand at over 2 GW, and solar power plants tied to storage systems, of which approximately 15 GW have received preliminary licenses.
Gümüş said that with investors appearing highly motivated, he expects Türkiye’s solar market to continue growing. Another developing driver is the increasing popularity of floating solar, the framework for which was finalized in December. The country’s most recent renewable energy tender featured a floating PV project for the first time.
“There's a chance that new licensed additions could catch up with unlicensed ones but I still believe unlicensed will be the main driver in 2026,” Gümüş added.
To support Türkiye’s solar market further, Gümüş called for the easing of bureaucratic barriers facing residential solar systems. Figures from Ember estimate at least 120 GW of rooftop solar potential.
Türkiye would benefit from introducing annual net metering, rather than hourly net metering, after switching away from monthly net metering in 2025, Gümüş said. He also suggested a change to grid distribution fees to ensure they are not collected from the producer twice, both when electricity is purchased from the grid and when surplus electricity is sold to the grid, or for the fee to be lowered.
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