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The analyst behind the “Over Exposed” report, which examined the likelihood of forced labor in the solar module makers supply chain, has revised his stance on Maxeon Solar. Detailed documentation and ongoing dialogue with the company prompted the re-evaluation.
China-based solar panel manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has been cleared of accusations of using Uyghur forced labor in its polysilicon supply chain. This conclusion comes from Laura Murphy, policy advisor to the Under Secretary in the Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans at the US Department of Homeland Security, and author of the report “Over Exposed: Uyghur Region Exposure Assessment for Solar Industry Sourcing.”
On his LinkedIn page, Murphy announced that after a series of contacts with Maxeon, his team has updated its assessment of the company. Specifically, he noted:
“Based on substantial information submitted to Sheffield Hallam by Maxeon Solar Technologies, we have updated our report with a new assessment of Maxeon modules, assessing the companys exposure to XUAR as NONE (not verified).”
The reassessment recognizes the extensive data Maxeon shared regarding its procurement processes and the application of extensive tracking and verification within its supply chains. The dialogue between Murphy and Maxeon, in which other manufacturers also participated, is publicly accessible through their website, in Annex A: Corporate Responses.
The initial exchange with Maxeon began on July 27, 2023, when Maxeon contested the implications of forced labor on its supply. The subsequent speech is recorded in a ten-page email thread, found within the same document.
Three fundamental pieces of evidence influenced the review:
1. A disclosure detailing wafer, polysilicon, and metallurgical grade silicon (MGS) suppliers for Gen 3 and Gen 6 cell production as of January 1, 2023. This includes Maxeons supply chain map, which was previously submitted to Sheffield Hallam and appeared in the original report, and has since been published online.
2. A claim that Maxeon required its suppliers to refrain from using XUAR-sourced materials throughout the supply chain, although this claim remains unverified.
3. Maxeons insistence that its suppliers, OCI and TCL Zhonghuan, source exclusively non-XUAR materials for specific Maxeon products.
Before the reassessment, Maxeon faced a “very high” probability rating for using forced labor polysilicon. This rating has been lowered to “none (not verified).”
The report defines “none (not verified)” as a scenario in which “all polysilicon producers are documented but cannot be independently verified.” MGS sourcing locations documented in corporate statements or other reputable statements show that none are located in the XUAR, but no other public or official statement verifies the claim.”
Industry expert Christian Roselund questioned the methodology of the initial qualifications on his LinkedIn profile: “The supply chain maps provided for the Maxeon 3/5/6 and SunPower X-/A-/M series never verified a connection with Xinjiang, but simply assumed it based on limited and inconclusive evidence. In violation of the report’s own stated methodology, other nodes and supply chains receive “very high” scores simply because the report authors did not find all the information they were looking for.”
The recent update to Murphys full forced labor report, which now includes the new data on Maxeon, originally assigned a “very high” rating in part due to a lack of specific information. The report noted: “Without clear supply chain disclosures to account for wafer sourcing, analysis of Maxeon 3/5/6s current supply chain is dependent on analysis of Maxeons investments and business relationships.”
Such affiliations, linked to entities with ties to the Xinjiang region, led to the assumption that Maxeons solar cells also came from there. |
