SSI awards first Supply Traceability certificates to Astronergy module factories

The inspections were carried out by German technical institute TÜV Rheinland.

The SSI is a solar industry-led organisation set up by SolarPower Europe and Solar Energy UK. It offers voluntary Supply Traceability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) certifications for solar companies, using third-party assessments.

The group launched its Supply Traceability Standard in December 2024. It aims to create a system to trace materials through the solar supply chain, from quartz mining and polysilicon production to module assembly.

Then-head of the SSI, Alexia Ruvoletto, said it was designed to create a “clear, verifiable chain of custody for materials” in the solar industry. Polysilicon and metallurgical silicon production and quartz mining have been associated with forced labour and unethical practices in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The SSI said that the certification of the two Astronergy facilities “reflects system readiness and capability, rather than a predefined volume of traceable material.”

Moreover, in its public report on the inspection, the SSI said: “At the time of assessment, traceability was implemented on a transaction-dependent basis, with traceable material flows occurring where customers request SSI-traceable products.”

As an industry body lacking legal powers, the certification effectively functions on a market basis, with manufacturers incentivised to reach the threshold for specific transactions and suppliers in order to sell SSI-approved products to largely European customers looking for higher traceability standards.

The standard requires traceable suppliers throughout the certified company’s supply chain.

“These first traceability certifications are an encouraging first step to demonstrate that auditable traceability systems can be implemented within the solar sector,” said Rachel Owens, CEO of the SSI.

The report said that efforts to introduce a “documented traceability management system” were implemented shortly before the inspection at both Astronergy factories, which meant that “evidence of sustained implementation and management review” was not demonstrated yet.

“As public and regulatory expectations increase, including under the EU Forced Labour Regulation, companies are being asked to demonstrate effective due diligence and supply chain visibility. Continued progress will depend on collaboration across the value chain,” Owens said.

While it has been successful in bringing companies into its ESG Standard, and now into the Supply Traceability Standard, some of the SSI’s work has been met with criticism. Much of this focuses on its entanglement with the solar industry itself, and the consulting role that big Chinese PV manufacturers play in the organisation’s action.

In establishing its standards, the SSI consults with its industry members as well as a conducting public consultation process. Critics, like the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC), have said the involvement of Chinese manufacturers in forming SSI standards designed to audit themselves “undermines its credibility” and potentially “enables greenwashing”.

JinkoSolar, Astronergy, JA Solar, Aiko, Canadian Solar, LONGi and Trinasolar are all SSI members, and paying members of its parent organisation, SolarPower Europe.

PV Tech Premium spoke with former head of the SSI, Alexia Ruvoletto, last year about the Supply Traceability Standard. She said that working with the industry to form the standard was a way to make it “implementable on the ground”.