Energy Policy, Vol 215, August 2026, Article 115312, 16 p.
Solar energy is the fastest growing source globally, but must scale even more rapidly to meet climate change mitigation targets. Alongside this growth is a greater interest in avoiding the life cycle impacts of photovoltaics modules in evolving energy systems including undesirable land use change, unnecessary resource extraction, and opportunities for low impact designs. However, this presents numerous governance challenges. This study is motivated by the following research questions: 1) Where, how, and why does solar value creation entail the potential for social and environmental injustices? 2) What governance interventions are necessary to enable more equitable outcomes as these industries scale up? To examine these issues, this paper develops a matrix of key governance issues across the value chain of solar energy deployment to identify and catalog challenges facing deep decarbonization. The results spotlight critical interventions to advance social and environmental justice across the global value chain for photovoltaics while supporting greater deployment.
