SolarEdge has aimed high in its 2025 Sustainability Commitments, published this week. The headline figure is that the company aims to supply PV systems that will produce at least 30,000 GWh renewable energy between 2020 and 2025, with a target of equipping 2.5 million homes.
Beyond installations, SolarEdge is also working towards a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per USD1 million in revenue, with 2020 as a baseline. The company committed to improving its resource efficiency to achieve “near-zero” e-waste to landfill as well as progress in its sustainable sourcing of key raw materials.
Additionally, SolarEdge aims to improve the life cycle value of its inverters, embarking on a full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of leading products to identify actions to reduce their footprint. The results of the assessment are expected to be available in the coming months, with the company saying the results will go on to inform future product development.
Among the 11 other targets was a goal increase investment in global community activities, for which the company does not currently have “complete data,” as well as promote gender parity and equal pay and implement human rights pre-screening and training for at least 50 suppliers.
The company’s recently released Sustainability Report for 2019, in which the 2025 targets were outlined, said of SolarEdge’s $1.4. billion revenue for 2019, $121 million was spent on research and development. The report went on to say the company had more than doubled its revenues and headcount in the past two years. In terms of reach, more than 16 GW of SolarEdge systems have been shipped globally, including almost 50 million power optimisers and 2.1 million DC inverters.
SolarEdge, a publicly traded company, said its Sustainability Commitments were influenced by “strong interest” from its investors and customers, prompting it to embark on a “structured journey to improve sustainability governance, infrastructure, strategy and disclosure” in 2019.
The Sustainability Report also focussed on the company’s involvement in the Australian market. Last year, SolarEdge joined forces with power provider AGL Energy in a residential battery program that is part of an expanded virtual power plant (VPP) in Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. The network of connected SolarEdge systems is managed as a VPP and based on SolarEdge’s grid services.
“AGL’s residential battery program unlocks new benefits for our customers and provides grid services that benefit all grid users. We are excited to expand our cooperation with SolarEdge and leverage its StorEdge solutions and grid services in order to successfully launch this program,” AGL’s General Manager of Distributed Energy, Dominique van den Berg, said.
The report also boasted the company’s launch of a new three phase hybrid inverter specially for the residential market in Australia, which SolarEdge says addresses local design restrictions and enables more power with faster installation.
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