These two articles from Politico and the BBC outline the many concerns that Chinese forced labor is involved in the production of solar panels in the Xinjiang region. For Virginians living in counties where large solar projects are planned or being proposed, that means it is important to ask the solar developers where they are sourcing their solar panels. The only way to ensure that no forced labor is used in producing the solar panels in a project in Virginia is to get, in writing, an agreement about where the panels to be used are built.
Key points from the articles include the following:
- China has detained 1 million people with Muslim backgrounds in camps and is forcing them to work against their will.
- The people in these camps have long been compelled to work in agriculture but more recently are being forced into more specialized sectors.
- One of these sectors is polysilicon, a material used to make the photovoltaic cells in solar panels.
- That means, according to Bloomberg, that nearly every silicon-based solar panel has some silicon in it produced by Chinese forced labor.
- China disputes the allegations of forced labor, but it is assessed by experts in Europe and America to be happening.
- The only way to ensure no forced labor was used in the production of solar panels is to source the panels from outside of China.
- This will be difficult because China manufactures over 70% of the world’s solar panels. (See here and here.)
Here are links to both articles:
China uses Uyghur forced labour to make solar panels, says report (BBC News, 14 May 2021)
Fears over China’s Muslim forced labor loom over EU solar power (Politico, 10 February 2021)