assurance
The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) is in the process of developing an assurance system to help ensure responsible production at every phase of the solar value chain.
The SSI is committed to launch the SSI Assurance System by Q4 2023 and will verify participating companies’ conformance against the SSI Code. Under the SSI Assurance System, site-level assessments will be carried out by independent and professionally qualified third-party assessors.
Assurance System
Conformance with the SSI Code
Conformance of sites with the SSI Code will also be independently verified by approved third-party assessors.
The assessor approval process is currently in the process of being finalised.
Grievance Mechanism
The SSI is in the process of finalising a grievance mechanism, which will launch in Q3 2023.
The grievance mechanism will be open to all stakeholders wishing to raise complaints and make suggestions for the strengthening of our systems.
Rating System
Operating sites’ performance against the SSI Code will be assessed following a rating system with a progressive approach to reward the most sustainable production sites.
‘Progressive approach’ means that sites will be required to demonstrate continuous improvement by achieving a higher rating for all requirements between verification cycles (1 to 3 years) to maintain the SSI claim and by meeting recommended ‘corrective actions’.
Sites will not be permitted to make an SSI claim if they fail to reach a minimum threshold rating for all requirements; for critical requirements this minimum rating will be higher than non-critical requirements.
Details of the rating system are still under discussion and will be finalised by Q3 2023.
Follow the Solar Stewardship Initiative’s Progress