Turkish PV manufacturer report reveals country’s annual production capacity is 5,610 MW/year

In September 2020, Stantec Turkey launched a market assessment report for the Turkish solar PV panel manufacturing sector. The English version of the “Market Report for Turkey’s Photovoltaic Panel Manufacturing” followed in November. The report, based on collected data from local manufacturers, depicts the history of the market since its inception in 2011 and provides unique insights into its development and future potential.

Antalya province, with the CW Enerji factory, and Kocaeli province, with the Smart Solar factory, are the provinces with the highest manufacturing capacities, at  an annual production capacity of 1,000 MW, respectively.

Image: Slon_pics, Pixabay

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Before the report, it was not possible to obtain up-to-date, comprehensive, and consolidated data on Turkey’s solar PV panel manufacturing industry. Therefore, it was impossible to assess even the most basic information, such as how many market players there are, what their installed capacities are, what kind of technologies they employ, and how much of their production is exported, etc.

The first version was compiled from the responses of 16 of the 22 Turkish PV panel manufacturers contacted. It will be updated periodically. Manufacturing companies included in the report are: Alfa Solar, Ankara Solar, CW Enerji, Elin Enerji, Gazioğlu Solar, Gest Enerji, GTC, 2H Enerji, HT Solar, Mirsolar, Ödül Enerji, Parla Solar, Seha Solar, Schmid-Pekintaş, Smart Solar and Solarturk.

It should be noted that the August 2020 inauguration of Kalyon’s 500 MW/year PV panel integrated manufacturing plant, which includes module, cell, wafer and ingot processes, and is located in Ankara Baskent, in the Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ), occurred after the report was completed, and will be taken into account during the revision in Q1 2021.

The key findings include:

  • Established in 2011, Solarturk is the first Turkish PV panel manufacturing company. Gazioğlu Solar and Gest Enerji followed in 2012, while Alfa Solar, Ankara Solar, GTC, Ödül Enerji and Schmid-Pekintaş are among the companies that started their activities in 2013.
  • Antalya province, with the CW Enerji factory, and Kocaeli province, with the Smart Solar factory, are the provinces with the highest manufacturing capacities, at  an annual production capacity of 1,000 MW, respectively. They are followed by Istanbul, with the HT Solar factory (with an annual production capacity of 800 MW). Overall, the capacity of PV panel manufacturing in Turkey is 5,610 MW/year.
  • HT Solar, Parla Solar, and GTC have 400, 130, and 100 MW/year cell production installed capacities, respectively.
  • Except two, all PV panel manufacturing companies in Turkey are 100% domestic.
  • Considering the local content materials used in PV panel production, the panel with the highest local content ratio is produced by Parla Solar at a rate of 85%.
  • Looking at the various technologies of PV panels produced by companies in Turkey, production of PV panels with PERC technology is common in every company.
  • The first private R&D center officially registered under the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology was established in 2016 by GTC for glass-glass panels.
  • Reviewing the investment plans of PV panel manufacturers in Turkey; improving and complementary investment intentions such as capacity increase and technology upgrade of PV panel lines, cell production, power plants and storage systems are mentioned.
  • Although the focus of the PV panel manufacturers in Turkey is the domestic market, they have been growing their export rates and diversifying in other countries/regions. Currently, a quarter of cumulative annual production is exported. The major export regions for PV panels manufactured in Turkey are Europe and the Middle East. The companies who have exported the most in the last five years are HT Solar with 85%, followed by CW Enerji with 30% and Schmid-Pekintaş and Gest Enerji with 25%, respectively.
  • On average 30% of the employees are women.

Recently, we have been witnessing serious attempts by Europe to take the leadership in PV panel manufacturing back from the Far East. Along with technology development-oriented PV module efficiency increase, becoming more competitive globally with new materials, and updated production techniques are at the heart of it. This initiative is also supported by the strategy and financial resources within the scope of the European Green Deal. We think that it is critical for the manufacturers in Turkey to closely follow this wind of change and take the advantage of strategic opportunities in this development.

The report is freely available to download.

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