Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region

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Solar Industry

Every level of the solar panel supply chain is exposed to Uyghur forced labour.

Read the Solar Industry FAQs

Updated July 2025

Research shows almost the entire global solar panel industry is at risk of being implicated in the forced labour of Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples:

  • 95% of solar panels rely on one primary material – solar-grade polysilicon.
  • The Uyghur Region accounts for approximately 35% of the world’s solar-grade polysilicon supply in 2022 (down from 45% since 2020) and approximately 32% of global metallurgical grade silicon production 
  • There are at least 90 Chinese and international companies whose supply chains are affected by Uyghur forced labour.
  • The Uyghur Region’s largest raw materials supplier to the solar industry is heavily implicated in the forced labour of Uyghurs.
  • All four leading polysilicon manufacturers in the Uyghur Region are implicated in Uyghur forced labour either through direct participation in forced labour schemes, and/or through their raw material sourcing. The four largest solar panel suppliers in the world all source from at least one of these polysilicon manufacturers. 
  • The vast majority of solar modules produced globally continue to have exposure to the Uyghur Region.
  • Some of the world’s largest module manufacturers have bifurcated their supply chains to create alternative sources for polysilicon that they claim to have no exposure to the Uyghur Region. 
  • Many companies that have created supply chains purportedly free of inputs from the Uyghur Region continue to source from suppliers or sub-suppliers that have exposure to the Uyghur Region for other product lines.
  • Silica-based products, including the raw materials used to make aluminium alloys, silicones, and polysilicon, have been identified as high-priority sectors for UFLPA enforcement. Solar companies will have to demonstrate comprehensive due diligence and supply chain tracing to comply with the law. This requirement extends throughout the entire supply chain, to include goods that may be shipped from elsewhere in China and to third countries for further processing.

Regulatory developments have made the demands of the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region a legal requirement. In 2022, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) came into force, which establishes a rebuttable presumption that the importation of any goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly, or in part, in the Uyghur Region, or produced by certain entities implicated in forced labour, is prohibited by Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 and not entitled to entry to the United States. The UFLPA, in effect, codifies into law the central elements of the Coalition’s Call to Action. 

The European Union’s Forced Labour Regulation will prevent the trade of goods made with forced labour and covers both the import of goods and the trade of goods within and from the EU bloc. In the UK, the Court of Appeal ruled that companies that knowingly or with suspicion import goods made under criminal circumstances—such as through Uyghur forced labour—can now be prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act for trading criminal property.  

Only by taking the actions enumerated in the Call to Action can companies act responsibly and prevent their supply chains from being linked to the forced labour of Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples.

Read the Call to Action

 

The Coalition is demanding that companies, including those without a US market: 

  • Commit to apply a single global standard, aligned with the legal requirements set forth in the UFLPA, to exclude Uyghur forced labour across its supply chains, and not to bifurcate its supply chains where one supply chain is tainted by Uyghur forced labour and one is compliant with the UFLPA and free of Uyghur forced labour.
  • Commit to not re-exporting goods detained under the auspices of the UFLPA to other markets and attempt to sell those goods in other markets.

These demands are made in consideration of existing and forthcoming laws in other jurisdictions, particularly the EU and EU Member States, and to raise business standards globally.

[1] Data sourced from the Jewish World Watch Uyghur Forced Labor Database (accessed July 2022) and the Reports page of the Coalition website.

For solar companies wishing to speak with the Coalition, please email [email protected].

 

Key Resources

In September 2022, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre sought responses to the four above questions from these companies. Of the thirteen companies, only six (46%) responded. The Coalition will be following up with these companies about their actions to remove Uyghur forced labour across their supply chain. See all company responses here.

  • Acciona S.A. (response)
  • Canadian Solar Inc. (no response)
  • Consolidated Edison Inc. (no response)
  • DECMIL Group (no response)
  • Enel SpA (response)
  • Iberdrola S.A. (response)
  • Marubeni Corporation (response)
  • NextEra Energy Inc. (response)
  • OCI Company Ltd (no response)
  • Sunnova Energy International Inc. (response)
  • Toyo Engineering Corp. (no response)
  • Wacker Chemie AG (no response)
  • WEG S.A. (no response)

 

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