Turkey Makes New Provisions For Solar System Irrigation

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The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change in Turkey has created new rules that will make it easier to deploy self-consumption solar arrays and solar systems for irrigation, which can cover an area of up to 125 square metres.

“Agriculture is essential for the growth of (Turkey) and it is important to adopt methodologies and technologies to assist agriculture in providing food that is sufficient for the entire population,” said Eren Engur, a board member of the Turkish solar association, Gunder.

He added, “We believe that with this new supportive regulation photovoltaic-powered irrigation systems will save labor and fuel cost in rural off-grid areas of the country.”

Both project types can now be constructed without construction permits under the new provisions. With metal mounting structures, PV systems for irrigation cannot be over 150cm from the ground. New regulations stipulate that roof-mounted PV systems must comply with all aesthetic requirements for each building and the environment.

According to recent figures released by TEIAS, Turkey’s grid operator, Turkey had a cumulative PV capacity in excess of 8.5 GW as of June.