forced labour

Norwegian ingot and wafer manufacturer NorSun will supply Heliene, a Canadian solar PV manufacturer, with US-made silicon wafers for its annual requirements from 2026.

The European Parliament has approved a new regulation prohibiting the sale, import and export of goods made using forced labour.

The EU has reached a provisional agreement on a regulation to ban products made with forced labour from entering the market.

The proposal would have likely been consequential for the solar PV industry, which is plagued by allegations of forced labour in the production of polysilicon and other upstream components.

Members of the European Parliament, the ESMC and Uyghur representative groups discussed the alleged ongoing forced labour and exploitation of the Uyghur population in Xinjiang province.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) has written an open letter to the EU calling for “robust regulation” of forced labour in the solar supply chain.

Facing an auditorium of the biggest names in solar, the panelists in the discussion emphasised the central role that ESG and supply chain traceability is coming to play in the solar industry.

EU committees have adopted a draft regulation banning solar products with forced labour in their supply chains from entering the EU.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council offers several recommendations for the EU and solar companies to address forced labour in the supply chain.

The Clean Energy Council (CEC) of Australia and the New South Wales anti-slavery commissioner James Cockayne have partnered to produce a new Code of Practise to manage the risks of modern slavery exposure in renewable energy supply chains.