State-supported solar panels are provided mainly through five different institutions. The funding source for TKDK and KKYDP incentives is the IPARD Program Fund, jointly financed by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey. Solar panels fall under this fund’s “302-7 Renewable Energy Investments” category.
What Is the IPARD Program Fund for State-Supported Solar Panels?
The IPARD Program Fund is the rural development branch of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, established by the European Union to support candidate and potential candidate countries.
Topics supported by the IPARD Program Fund include:
- Diversification of crop production and processing of plant products
- Beekeeping and production, processing, and marketing of bee products
- Craft and value-added product enterprises (with emphasis on traditional and local products)
- Rural tourism and recreational activities
- Aquaculture and fisheries
- Machinery parks to meet common needs of the local agricultural sector
- Renewable energy investments
How to Apply for State-Supported Solar Panels?
To apply for state-supported solar panels, follow these steps:
- Confirm that the planned investment location is eligible for support.
- Carefully review the call guide, the application package contents, and other information documents.
- Prepare construction projects using the specific position numbers on the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization website, including quantities.
- Prepare the technical project in the format specified by TKDK for machinery, equipment, or construction works.
- Obtain offers for planned construction, machinery, equipment, and visibility expenses in line with the rules for obtaining offers.
- Download the appropriate business plan template and complete it according to the business plan filling guide.
- Prepare official documents according to the application package content booklet.
- File one original and one copy of the completed application package separately. (All project drawings must be prepared electronically.)
- The applicant or their legal representative must deliver the application package in person to the TKDK Provincial Coordination Office within the announced dates.
What Are the Requirements for State-Supported Solar Panels?
Specific conditions to receive state support for solar panels:
- New or expanded agricultural enterprises must be located on agricultural land where construction is permitted under the Regulation on the Protection and Use of Agricultural Lands and Law No. 5403 on Soil Protection and Land Use.
- Renewable energy investments up to 1 MW capacity (for micro-cogeneration investments up to 100 kWe) are supported.
- If the investment aims to generate electricity from renewable sources, connection to the national grid is mandatory.
What Must Be Done to Produce Electricity with State-Supported Solar Panels?
To produce electricity with solar panels, applicants must meet the following conditions:
- The applicant must submit a document or certificate from the authorized institution (distribution companies, organized industrial zones, Turkish Electricity Distribution Companies, etc.) confirming that grid connection is available.
- At final payment, the applicant must submit the provisional acceptance report issued by the relevant authorities along with the final payment request package.
What Documents Are Required for State-Supported Solar Panels?
Document requirements for solar panel projects are detailed. There are common documents required for all IPARD projects. Always contact the institution for the current list before preparing documents to ensure completeness.
Common documents for all projects:
- Application form
- Letter of undertaking
- Official documents obtained from technical institutions
- Detailed tables of eligible and ineligible expenditures
- Selected offers and attachments
- Unselected offers and attachments
- Cost justification table
- Legal financial statements
- List of existing assets
- Projects and quantity schedules
- Machinery and equipment layout plan and list
- Building permit or an official letter stating that a building permit is not required
- Business plan
- Technical project
Who Can Receive State-Supported Solar Panels?
Rules for applicants seeking state incentives for solar panels:
- Applicants must be registered in the tax system and have no outstanding tax or social security debts at the time of application.
- Applicants must ensure the investment is maintained without significant changes for five years after the final payment by TKDK.
- Applicants must be under 65 years old on the application date (for natural persons) or the legal representative must be under 65 for legal entities.
- For investments on leased property, the lease term must cover at least five years from the date of project completion.
- Regardless of the applicant’s status, the solar panel investment must be located in a rural area.
Who Cannot Receive State-Supported Solar Panels?
Applicants ineligible to apply for or receive solar panel support:
- Those subject to bankruptcy, composition, or liquidation decisions, or whose assets or business are managed by a trustee or guardian
- Individuals convicted of crimes such as theft, robbery, breach of trust, fraud, fraudulent bankruptcy, forgery, bid rigging, embezzlement, bribery, or similar offenses
- Those blacklisted by TKDK during application, implementation, or post-implementation periods
- Those who fail to meet social security premium or tax obligations under Turkish law
- Persons convicted under anti-terrorism or organized crime laws
- Enterprises classified as out-of-support by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock
- Those convicted of crimes listed in Articles 102, 103, and 104 of the Turkish Penal Code
How Much Does It Cost to Install State-Supported Solar Panels?
Eligible expenditures for a state-supported solar panel investment must be at least 5,000 and at most 500,000 Euros. Amounts exceeding the upper limit are not eligible for support and must be covered by the investor. Investments below the minimum are not eligible and applications are rejected.
How Much Support Is Provided for State-Supported Solar Panels?
Support amounts for solar panels are granted within the 5,000 to 500,000 Euro range. Sixty-five percent (65%) of the eligible expenditure is covered by contributions from the European Union and the Republic of Turkey. The remaining thirty-five percent (35%) must be borne by the investor.
How Are Applications for State-Supported Solar Panels Evaluated?
Application evaluation begins after all documents are correctly and completely submitted. The process includes administrative checks followed by eligibility checks. Applications that pass these stages proceed to financial and economic evaluation. The business plan is scored out of 100 points, broken down as follows:
- Financial evaluation (65 points)
- Project financial sustainability
- Evaluation of project profitability (NPV)
- Sensitivity analysis
- Assessment of the applicant’s management and technical capacity (15 points)
- Assessment of marketing capacity (20 points)
- Competitiveness
- Market share
Which Situations Provide an Advantage in the Application?
After scoring the business plans, candidates are ranked according to the “Project Selection Ranking Criteria.” The following characteristics earn extra points if met:
- Applicant (or the person legally representing the entity) is under 40 years old at the application date (10 points)
- Applicant is a farmer operating in mountain or forest villages (10 points)
- The investment is carried out by a woman entrepreneur or the project owner is female (10 points)
- Applicant holds a vocational certificate, diploma, or has at least 3 years of relevant experience (10 points)
- Investment is based on an approved Local Development Strategy (20 points)
- Applicant is a producer organization, union, or cooperative (10 points)
- Project includes a solar energy facility to meet energy demand for crop production, beekeeping/honey production, micro and small enterprises, rural tourism and recreation, aquaculture, or machinery parks (10 points)
- Applicant is a natural person residing in the region where the investment takes place (20 points)
When ranking projects, the Project Selection Ranking Criteria are applied. If two or more investments receive the same score, the business plan scores are compared. If still tied, the application submission date and time are used; the earliest submission wins the right to support for the solar panel project.