At the recent TaiyangNews Virtual Conference on Solar & Sustainability 2023, the executive panel deliberated on how the solar sector can become even more sustainable. Aquila Capital's Ozer Ergul was of the view that conforming to ESG guidelines for solar products helps improve not only the sustainability of the product itself but also improves the brand image in the eyes of well-informed customers.
Endurans Solar's Imco Goudswaard added that companies should be responsible enough to source, produce and operate sustainably without waiting for government directives. He also was in favor of diversifying the solar supply chain to local markets which will be sustainability in practice as it would bring down huge costs and emissions by cutting down shipping. JinkoSolar's Head of Sustainability Development Lin Sun advocated for manufacturers offering better warranties to make their products last long while also training their lens on recycling technologies. Combining solar with other complimentary technologies as storage or hydrogen or wind is also a sustainable practice which should be encouraged. She also recommended governments reduce their lengthy paperwork and legislations for solar to quickly come online. Agreeing with Sun, BayWa's Repowering head Tomaso Charlemont pointed at the socially contributing nature of PV technology as it is paired with agriculture and water bodies in the form of agri-PV and floating solar.
The Conference took place on 30 March 2023 and viewed solar & sustainability from different angles – corporate decarbonisation strategies, low carbon vertically integrated module manufacturing and CO2 certification, to sustainable product sourcing, module recycling, and repowering of PV plants.