About the Supply Chain Traceability Standard
The SSI Supply Chain Traceability Standard represents another crucial milestone in pursuing a transparent value chain for photovoltaic solar modules. The SSI ESG Standard can certify a ‘link’ – i.e. a production site – in the solar supply chain. The SSI Supply Chain Traceability Standard is the first step to show precisely where the materials used at each link come from and how they are traced. With the combination of the SSI ESG and SSI Supply Chain Traceability Standards, stakeholders along the solar value chain will be reassured that the silicon used in the solar modules was produced responsibly.
The Supply Chain Traceability certification is mandatory for SSI manufacturing members and complements certification against the SSI ESG Standard. It sets out requirements for maintaining a traceability system with a future goal to enable an ‘unbroken’ Chain of Custody (CoC) through the solar value chain. A CoC is a documented sequence of physical and legal possession of material as it moves through a supply chain. The Standard defines a ‘segregated’ chain of custody model for specific silicon supply chain tiers and requires a traceability system able to demonstrate a chain of entities to supply the material. The material may have been produced at a number of separate SSI-certified sites; however, it cannot be mixed with other uncertified materials.