Report: Indian Solar Panel Maker Purchases Longi Cells
Waaree Energies Ltd., an Indian solar panel manufacturer that accounts for about 9% of U.S. imports, has been buying solar cells from Longi, a Chinese manufacturer that Sheffield Hallam University tied to Xinjiang polysilicon.
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According to a report from Bloomberg, ImportGenius records show Waaree received hundreds of shipments of Longi cells from plants in Malaysia and Vietnam. Longi denies that Xinjiang-made polysilicon is in the supply chain of its Southeast Asian plants. In "Over-Exposed," the follow-up report on Uyghur forced labor in the solar industry by Sheffield Hallam, Longi said "it has created a dedicated/isolated supply chain for XUAR inputs. The map suggests that its module facilities in Shanxi and Shaanxi source cells from Longi Ningxia and Sichuan, which are in turn supplied ingots/wafers from Longi Ningxia. According to Longi’s map, the Longi Ningxia ingot/wafer facility is the exclusive consumer of the Xinte XUAR polysilicon. There is no way to verify Longi’s claim using publicly available disclosures."
Chinese production of polysilicon has moved out of Xinjiang rapidly since the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act passed, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance; before UFLPA, 54% of polysilicon came from Xinjiang, now about one-third does.
Solar panels and cells are the most detained item by value under UFLPA; according to the Bloomberg story, no shipments from Indian companies have been detained.
Longi's chairman said during an earnings call last year that panels turned away from the U.S. were a "massive impairment" to the company's finances, as it has to find new buyers for them.
"Since then, some Longi shipments have been getting through, Philip Shen, an analyst at investment bank Roth Capital Partners, wrote in an October note, suggesting that the company was making progress in its efforts to establish a US supply chain that doesn’t rely on Chinese polysilicon," the story said.