STS was invited by PV Tech to present our approach and findings regarding supply chain traceability.
Sustainable material sourcing is now a developing trend in the solar industry. To mitigate the risks of the supply chain, STS encourages their customers to follow best practices for PV module procurement: Assessment, Qualification, and Control.
Supply Chain Assessment: Collect and carry out onsite verification of information provided by the manufacturers by deploying globally accepted international Standards (e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 28001) and Industry Standards (SEIA Supply Chain Traceability Protocol V1.0)
Supply Chain Qualification: Apply customers’ requirements in terms of economic viability, environmental responsibility, and social responsibility.
Quality Assurance Control: The Industry Standard STS-STD-PVM1:2018 is a framework adapted to integrate specific new requirements. A Certificate of Conformity makes all stakeholders comfortable that the requirements have been successfully applied.
STS controls already 100% of the BOM for ~80% of STS customers, and today, STS is conducting supply chain assessment for >26GW/year of South-East Asian factories for the account of >20GW of US buying power (more than 50% PV module buyers in the USA).