Publication Date

4-10-2026

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Energy Policy

Volume

215

DOI

10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115312

Abstract

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.

Funding Number

344206

Funding Sponsor

Norges Forskningsråd

Keywords

Governance, Just transitions, Rapid decarbonization, Solar energy, Value chains

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Urban and Regional Planning

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