Leading PV manufacturer LONGi announced that it has passed the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) ESG standard audit and has been awarded the SSI Gold Medal. The company claims it is the ‘world’s first’ PV company globally to receive this certification from SSI, which is a global assurance program for the solar supply chain launched by SolarPower Europe and Solar Energy UK.
LONGi states the SSI-ESG Gold Medal signifies international recognition of the company’s sustainability performance across three core dimensions – environmental responsibility, social contribution, and corporate governance – and establishes a new benchmark for sustainable development within the global PV industry.
In November, LONGi received an ‘A’ rating in MSCI’s latest ESG assessment, up from BBB previously (see LONGi Receives An ‘A’ In MSCI’s Latest ESG Rating).
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released an updated version of the General Principles for Green Factory Evaluation (GB/T 36132—2025), effective December 31, 2025. The revised standard updates the 2018 edition and establishes a unified evaluation framework applicable to the development of green factory standards and related technical guidelines across industrial sectors.
The new framework centers on 5 core dimensions: low-carbon energy use, efficient resource utilization, clean production, green products, and intensive land use. A dedicated quantitative scoring item for ‘renewable energy utilization rate’ has been introduced within the top-level indicator of ‘low-carbon energy use, which carries a weighting of up to 30%. Enterprises are encouraged to increase the share of clean energy – such as solar, wind, and hydropower – through self-built facilities, green power trading, or the purchase of Green Electricity Certificates (GECs).
Recently, MIIT, together with other government departments, jointly released an action plan to promote the deep integration of AI in manufacturing and advance the upgrading of China’s manufacturing sector (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Perovskite manufacturer Perovs announced that its mass-produced rigid large-area perovskite modules have achieved a certified conversion efficiency of 20.87% on a 1.2 × 0.6 m² area, with an output power of 150.26 W, as verified by TÜV NORD. The company emphasized that this result was achieved using standard mass-production processes on a commercially relevant large-area module format.
Perovs currently operates a 100 MW perovskite pilot line in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. The company also disclosed that it is constructing a 1 GW perovskite manufacturing facility in Chongqing, which is expected to be structurally topped out in February this year.
Last month, Perovs signed an agreement with Wenling City in Zhejiang Province to develop a GW-level mass-production base for new energy equipment, including fully automated smart production lines for high-efficiency crystalline silicon PV equipment, perovskite, and OPV technologies, among others (see China Solar PV News Snippets).
Guangdong Province has launched a competitive allocation process for existing utility-scale ground-mounted PV projects. A total of 6.5 GW of project capacity will be allocated, open exclusively to ground-mounted PV projects that have already completed project filing. In the first round, 1.5 GW will be allocated.
The bidding criteria will be based on a combined score comprising the proportion of capital already invested and a comprehensive benefit assessment. The framework encourages the inclusion of energy storage and prioritizes projects that can consume electricity locally rather than exporting power to the grid.
Importantly, the policy document issued by the Guangdong Development and Reform Commission explicitly states that, due to high population density and limited land resources, the province is no longer suitable for further development of ground-mounted PV projects. Except for projects included in the provincial development and construction list, Guangdong will not approve any new ground-mounted PV power plants.