Trina Solar sites earn first SSI ESG certifications for PV modules

Two of Trina Solar’s module manufacturing sites in China have become the first such facilities to complete environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessments under the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI).

The SSI has completed its first ESG assessments.

The initiative, which launched in 2022, is a supply chain sustainability assurance scheme. SSI members will each undergo site-level assessments conducted by independent, third-party auditors to ensure the site meets all the initiative’s standards for responsible solar production, sourcing and stewardship.

Results available on SSI’s website show two of Trina Solar’s module manufacturing sites China won silver ESG standard certification toward the end of 2024.

SSI says said assessments are planned over the next two months, with more expected to be scheduled on a rolling basis throughout the year. The results will be updated on its website, with each site set to be reassessed every three years.

The planned ESG assessments from the final quarter of last year through the first quarter of the year will collectively represent an annual module production capacity of 100 GW and an annual cell production capacity of 20 GW, said the SSI.

The initiative added that the completion of the first ESG assessments “mark a significant step forward in its mission to promote transparency, accountability and responsible practices across the solar value chain.”

In December, SSI published a supply traceability standard which focuses on tracing materials across the solar value chain. The first traceability assessments are scheduled to begin in 2025.

The SSI said it is working with members and stakeholders to extend both ESG and traceability assessments to upstream sites, including polysilicon production, “to enable a fully certified chain of custody for solar modules in the future.”