Trina Solar
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 1 November 2026 · 12 sources
Chinese maker of solar panels, trackers and storage, based in Changzhou.
There's no proof Trina Solar pays more than the legal minimum, which in China is below a living wage, and it has no full independent audit.
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Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 1 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 2 red flags: no evidence of a living wage and unaudited production in high-risk countries. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record, because there's no serious confirmed problem on its record.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 1 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsMost of its products are made in China and Thailand, where unions are heavily restricted, and it has no full supply chain audit.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Met: No confirmed child or forced labour findings or linksUnconfirmed reports of forced labour are listed below. They don't affect the grade.
- Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list
- Not met: Traces the silicon in its panels to the smelter or quartz mine, outside Xinjiang (for batteries and inverters: traces its battery metals to the mine)
Red flags 2
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Made mostly in countries with poor worker rights, without a full independent audit of its supply chain
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where it's made
Trina Solar says which countries it makes its products in, but doesn't name the factories.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Vietnam | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Thailand | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: about a third of the world's polysilicon and silicon metal is made in Xinjiang, where state-run labour transfers amount to forced labour, and home batteries rely on cobalt, lithium and other metals linked to child and forced labour.
- Traces the silicon in some of its panels, or only back to the polysilicon plant
- Modern slavery statement
- It traces some of its silicon, or traces it only to the polysilicon plant, but doesn't show that the panels it sells here use silicon traced back to the smelter outside Xinjiang.
Research notes Trina Solar makes wafers, cells and modules in China, with its own bases in Vietnam and Thailand, and does not say which factories make the panels it sells in Australia. Three of its Chinese module factories hold Solar Stewardship Initiative traceability at Silver, back to the silicon-metal smelter, but Trina offers traced panels only as an add-on when customers ask, and says nothing about its Australian range. It names no polysilicon or silicon-metal suppliers; its Australian entity lodges yearly modern slavery statements, and the 2021 statement reports supplier questionnaires and reviews but does not mention Xinjiang or polysilicon, and it publishes no supplier list.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Stewardship Initiative certified sites | Listed | Solar Stewardship Initiative traceability at Silver (traced to the silicon-metal smelter) and ESG certificates at Silver for three Chinese module factories, Dongtai, Yancheng and Yiwu, valid to late 2026 or January 2027; traceable panels only on request. View |
| Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre) | Listed | Assessed in the 2025 Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark (35 wind and solar companies), which found no company publicly discloses its full solar supply chain. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Problem found | Sheffield Hallam University's 2023 assessment, posted by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, rated Trina Solar's exposure to Uyghur forced labour 'very high'; no response was received. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Listed | Trina Solar (Australia) Pty Ltd lodges modern slavery statements every year from 2021 to 2025. View |
| US forced-labour import bans (UFLPA Entity List, CBP Withhold Release Orders) | Not listed | Trina Solar and its subsidiaries are not on the UFLPA Entity List (29 October 2026 edition). View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | The US Department of Labor's 2024 list names Chinese polysilicon and metallurgical-grade silicon as made with forced labour, and Chinese ingots, wafers, solar cells and modules as made with those inputs. View |
Unconfirmed reports
Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.
- Sheffield Hallam University rated Trina Solar's exposure to Uyghur forced labour 'very high' in 2023; Trina did not respond to the researchers. Source
- Industry sources told Reuters that most of the 1,053 solar shipments US Customs held under its Uyghur forced labour law between June and October 2022 were made by LONGi, Trina Solar and JinkoSolar; none had been released or rejected by then (Reuters, 2022). Source
Sources and actions
Sources 12
Show all 12 sources
- Certified sites (Solar Stewardship Initiative) · search the archive · Trina Dongtai, Yancheng and Yiwu module sites: Supply Chain Traceability Silver and ESG Silver
- Report from Sheffield Hallam University reveals significant risks of forced labor in solar supply chains (BHRRC, 2023) · search the archive · Trina Solar: allegation of very high exposure; no response received
- Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark 2025 (BHRRC) · search the archive · Trina Solar assessed; no company publicly discloses its full solar supply chain
- DHS announces addition of 37 PRC-based companies to UFLPA Entity List (2025) · search the archive · Solar wafer makers listed for sourcing Xinjiang polysilicon; Trina not among them
- List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (US Department of Labor, 2024) · search the archive · Chinese polysilicon and metallurgical-grade silicon listed for forced labour; solar cells, modules, ingots and wafers for forced-labour inputs
- Australian Modern Slavery Register search: Trina · search the archive · Trina Solar (Australia) Pty Ltd statements for 2021 to 2025
- Trinasolar module factories awarded silver supply chain traceability certificates by SSI (PV Tech, 2026) · search the archive · Silver traces from metallurgical-grade silicon to module at Yiwu and Yancheng; traceability transaction-dependent, where customers request SSI-traceable products; 1 GW Australian supply MOU with Solar Juice
- A total solutions provider: Trina Solar on its work in the mature Australian solar market (PV Tech, 2024) · search the archive · Trina sells modules, trackers and storage in Australia
- US blocks more than 1,000 solar shipments over Chinese slave labor concerns (Reuters via ThePrint, 2022) · search the archive · Detained shipments mostly LONGi, Trina and JinkoSolar per industry sources; none released or rejected yet
Published by Trina Solar or its owner
- Trinasolar's Yiwu and Yancheng factories first to achieve Silver under the SSI Supply Chain Traceability Standard (Trina Solar, 2026) · search the archive · Traceability offered as an add-on service on customer request; Dongtai added May 2026; no mention of Australia
- Trinasolar begins producing 210mm monocrystalline wafers in Vietnam (Trina Solar, 2023) · search the archive · Wafer factory in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam; cell and module production in Vietnam and Thailand; cells made in Qinghai, China
- Trina Solar (Australia) Pty Ltd 2021 Modern Slavery Statement · search the archive · Production bases in Vietnam and Thailand; suppliers mainly in China, Spain and Vietnam; over 18,000 group staff; supplier reviews and questionnaires; no mention of polysilicon or Xinjiang
Company details
- Headquarters
- China
- Last researched
- 1 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Trina Solar ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/trina-solar, last researched 1 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Trina Solar.