Comparetive analysis of Turkey's photovoltaic energy status: Legal structure, existing installed power and projections

Energy has been the indispensable need of human beings for centuries. Meeting this need has also been one of the most important problems. Energy is defined as the ability to do work and can be produced through variety of processes and used in various manners. Primary energy sources such as petroleum, natural gas, coal, wood, solar etc. are used directly without being converted to another type of energy. Secondary energy sources are form of energies that are transformed from primary energy sources and are more expensive because of the losses during transformation. Electricity and fuel oil can be given as an example to secondary energy sources. Humankind has turned to renewable energy since fossil fuels, as the primary energy sources, are both harmful to the environment and not infinite energy sources. Solar energy, which is one of the renewable energy sources, has progressed rapidly in recent years. Photovoltaic cells, which convert solar energy directly into electrical energy, play an important role in energy policies of the countries through policies, investments and incentives. Turkey's annual solar energy potential, photovoltaic installed capacity per capita and photovoltaic power generation per capita have been analyzed in this thesis in comparison to selected 5 European Union countries (EU-5) that have different characteristic features. In addition, the ratio of photovoltaic installed capacity per capita to sunshine potential has been analyzed in comparison with the gross national product. The analyses which have been made in the light of these selected parameters indicate that the solar energy potential of the countries are not in direct proportion to their photovoltaic installed capacity per capita and their photovoltaic power generation per capita. In this context, it has been concluded that Turkey's photovoltaic development is not sufficient in comparison to EU-5 countries; and effective incentive policies are required to be implemented rapidly in order for Turkey to reach the level of developed countries.