forced labor

The European Solar Manufacturing Council says that the European Commission should ban all products made with forced labor to ensure the future of the European PV manufacturing sector.

The European Parliament’s Internal Market and International Trade committees have approved and amended a proposal to create a global list of regions and industries with a high risk of forced labor.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) is urging the European Union to adopt legislation against forced labor in the PV industry, by explicitly calling for measures to prevent solar products produced with forced labor from entering the European market.

While few can doubt the emission-reduction might of solar; forced- and child labor in clean power supply chains is becoming a hot issue, which is why the EU is mulling a ban on goods proven to have traces of such labor practices. Diana Zadorozhna, a partner at renewables consultancy Everoze, looks at what companies can do to prepare for forced-labor legislation.

Australia’s Clean Energy Council and law firm Norton Rose Fulbright have published a white paper arguing that the country’s renewable energy supply chains could “benefit significantly” from a concerted effort to address forced labor.

Texas-based FTC Solar said it expects a “significant rebound” in its business in the final three months of this year, if it can secure sufficient supplies of PV panels.

US Customs and Border Patrol has detained a large shipment of quartzite, a raw material for making polysilicon, from an unnamed Tier 1 solar module supplier.

Evidence of the extent to which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is investigating public allegations made against PV manufacturers has been highlighted in its due diligence processes. As a multilateral financial institution supporting renewable projects in many countries, smaller banks may mirror the EBRD’s efforts. pv magazine spoke with PI Berlin Managing Director Asier Ukar about the current state of solar supply-chain traceability systems.

The German company’s decision to cede market share to Chinese companies producing the material for solar panels, in order to focus on semiconductor-ready, electronic grade product, has seen it slip behind its rivals in terms of production scale.

As the world woke up to the news of war in Ukraine, the German Bundestag called a special session at which the finance minister, Christian Lindner, announced a package of measures in response to the crisis. A key plank, he said, would be a new focus on renewables.