GÜNAM has been founded by an initiative from the Middle East Technical University (METU) where solar energy studies date back to the 1980s. GÜNAM is financially supported by the Turkish State Planing Organization (SPO). The GÜNAM infrastructure has been built in the campus area of Middle East Technical University as an interdisciplinary research center. Faculty members from six disciplines of three faculties contribute to GÜNAM. Faculty members from the Physics and Chemistry Departments (Faculty of Arts and Sciences); Materials and Metallurgy, Electric-Electronics and Chemical Engineering Departments (Faculty of Engineering) have joined the center as the founding members.GÜNAM is a national research center serving all researchers in this field. It has already been recognized nation-wide through a series of new collaborations, already running projects and national networks. As a member of the national photovoltaic platform, it is actively participating in networking activities. Some studies with private sector companies have been initiated and started to generate new products. A prototype solar panel with Si wafer technology has been fabricated in collaboration with an industrial company aiming to invest in this sector in the near future. GÜNAM aims to extend its collaboration network and its effects to international level.