Solar panels in the UK are almost entirely made in China but US tariffs, counter-levies, and the EU’s renewed efforts to support Europe’s ailing solar panel manufacturers may result in a further influx of Chinese solar panels that would flood the British market.
It comes as a decision is to be made on a new Chinese embassy, which would dwarf the US equivalent in Nine Elms despite espionage concerns and its proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables.
“It puts our energy security at risk, which puts our national security at risk,” she added. “The Chinese Government has bought up the processing of all critical minerals required to make solar panels. I’m not saying we can’t have solar panels coming from China, but overreliance is risky.”
“The UK seems to be a fine place for them to offload what they have,” he said.
The push to net-zero targets means millions of solar panels will need to be brought into the country as only parts are still made in the UK.
2020 Chinese TikTok videos showed Uyghurs being transported to work in involuntary labour schemes during the Covid-19 outbreak (Photo: Channel 4 News)A 2021 study from Sheffield Hallam University found that the key material is obtained under a massive system of coercion. This has been repeatedly denied by the Chinese authorities. The United Nations, along with the UK, US and other Western nations, have accused the Chinese state of subjecting unconscionable crimes against humanity to the Uyghur people.
The UK introduced the Modern Slavery Act in 2015 criminalising slavery, human trafficking, and forced labour in the supply chain, but critics have said the law needs to urgently be strengthened further and relies on corporations’ goodwill.
The EU in 2024 passed legislation forcing large companies to be held liable for damage caused by violations of partaking in modern slavery, leaving them liable for compensation. UK companies with turnover within the EU over €1,500 million will have to apply the directive from 2027. The US also introduced the specific Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2021.
Kerns, meanwhile, who is also the Conservatives’ shadow minister for home affairs, accused the Labour Government of being “blindly obsessed” with greenlighting solar plants without engaging with the concerns around China’s solar panel industry.
Car production set for 70-year low as cheaper Chinese EVs flood the market
Read MoreShe warned the UK would become the “dumping ground for the most egregious slave labour-created solar panels.”
Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK, an industry body representing British energy sector companies, questioned whether Trump’s tariffs on China would have that great an effect on the influx of Chinese solar panels into the UK as the US had become more reliant on their own green energy infrastructure in recent years.
Solar Energy UK with Solar Power Europe is also running a supply-chain transparency initiative to “ensure the global solar energy supply chain is free of human rights abuses.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Modern slavery is a barbaric crime that dehumanises people for profit. We are committed to tackling it in all its forms and to giving survivors the support and certainty they need to rebuild their lives.
“That’s why we’re keeping our approach to how the UK can best tackle forced labour and environmental harms in supply chains under continual review and working internationally to enhance global labour standards.”
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