Report: Gaps in PV industry’s ‘fragmented’ approach to sustainability

August 13, 2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Gaps in the end-of-life management of PV products are highlighted by the IEA-PVPS in a review of industry sustainability standards. Image: PV Cycle.

The PV industry’s progress in meeting sustainability goals is patchy, with notable gaps in the end-of-life management of PV products and wide disparities in the maturity of crucial industry standards.

This is the headline conclusion of a report published this week by the sustainability task group of the International Energy Agency’s PV Power Systems Programme (IEA-PVPS), based on a detailed review of sustainability standards for the PV sector.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The study maps the current regulatory and voluntary frameworks that influence the industry’s environmental and social performance. These frameworks are coming into sharper focus as the 2030 deadline for the UN’s sustainable development goals approaches, and the PV industry’s collective contribution to them receives closer scrutiny.

The report found that although sustainability standards across the PV supply chain are evolving rapidly, significant gaps exist in critical areas, such as end-of-life management of PV hardware and the integration of “robust” social criteria in procurement processes.

It also found that, conversely, some standards show significant overlap, for example, reporting requirements, which can be both beneficial for robustness and overly burdensome because they are unnecessary. The report said that streamlining overlapping standards could enhance efficiency without sacrificing comprehensiveness.

A further finding was a variation in the maturity of the different sustainability standards underpinning the PV sector, indicating what the report said was the PV industry’s evolving approach towards a comprehensive approach to sustainability. For example, in the EU, long-standing sustainability regulations, such as the EU Ecodesign standard, exist alongside new ‘ecolables’ and product-specific standards that have a limited uptake.

Among the specific recommendations made in the report is the need for greater prominence of the circular economy principles of reuse and remanufacturing in standards such as ISO140167, the international standard for calculating a product’s carbon footprint.

It also suggested integrating labour and human rights into standards. For example, building on frameworks such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) in the US and the EU’s forced labour ban, the report said adding labour rights protections and due diligence metrics to product and environmental standards could create a more unified approach to ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility across the PV sector.

“This report brings much-needed clarity to the fragmented landscape of PV sustainability standards, highlighting both gaps and opportunities to guide the industry forward,” said co-author Nieves Espinosa. 

‘Review of PV sustainability standards 2025’ is available via the IEA-PVPS website.

Read Next

October 31, 2025
Australia's solar and energy storage sectors delivered transformative performance during the third quarter of 2025, with grid-scale solar generation reaching 1,699MW average output while battery systems expanded capacity by 2,936MW since Q3 2024.
October 31, 2025
Acen Australia has committed to recycling around one million solar modules from its 400MW Stubbo solar PV power plant in New South Wales.
October 30, 2025
Global net zero by 2050 is now “impossible” and the world is on course for temperature rises of 2.6°C, according to energy market analyst Wood Mackenzie.
October 30, 2025
New Zealand’s Genesis Energy has announced plans to acquire and develop a 271MWp solar project in Waikato, on the country’s upper North Island. 
October 30, 2025
Meridian Energy, a New Zealand state-owned energy company, has begun the construction of its 230GWh Ruakaka solar plant. 
October 29, 2025
French firms TotalEnergies and EDF, with local partners, secured contracts for 400MW and 600MW solar projects in Saudi Arabia, supporting Vision 2030 renewable goals.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
November 12, 2025
10am PST / 1pm EST
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany