Press Release

Global Solar Council Unveils New Brand and Strategic Vision to Drive Global Solar PV Industry Forward

London, 10 June 2024 – Today the Global Solar Council (GSC) announced the launch of its new brand and strategic vision, marking a significant milestone in its commitment to accelerate the deployment of solar power worldwide. The evolution of the global trade association comes at a critical time to unite the solar PV industry to keep the world on a 1.5C pathway.

Sonia Dunlop, CEO of the GSC, stated: "Solar is a booming industry. We have already seen impressive growth to over 1 TW of installed capacity and delivered immense benefits, including 300 million Tonnes of avoided CO2. But the full potential of solar PV has yet to be unlocked. We need to unite the global industry to address our common challenges, maximize deployment, and deliver the solar revolution at speed, scale and to the highest quality standards. Every person in the world deserves access to solar electricity either from their roof or through their supplier, and no country should be left behind. With GSC’s renewed strategy and our growing network of companies around the world, we are working harder than ever to make this a reality.”

Máté Heisz, Chair of the Board of the Global Solar Council, and Director of Global Affairs at SolarPower Europe, added; “The Global Solar Council’s rebranding and renewed strategic vision marks a pivotal moment for the organisation. We are turbocharging our efforts to accelerate solar energy around the world. The Global Solar Council is on a mission to unify all solar PV stakeholders towards the 1.5°C climate goal. We are convinced solar energy will be the beating heart of our clean, sustainable future, and invite all solar players to join our quest”.

New Brand, Renewed Vision

The organization’s new brand embodies its core values of passion, community, and progress as a leader in the global energy transition.

Alyssa Pek, Strategy & Communications Director at GSC commented: “The new brand is much more than a refreshed logo – it’s a visual and strategic representation of our growth as an organization. We’ve taken all the elements of our original logo and evolved it into a bolder symbol of optimism and hope. We’ve done the same thing with our strategic priorities. We’re building on the outstanding work of our predecessors and members, and evolving it to be even more ambitious and impactful – benefitting a wider group of members to realize our potential as an organization, and as an industry.”

GSC aims to build a fair and sustainable world with solar power at the heart of a new energy economy. To achieve this vision, the organization is now centering its strategy around three key pillars:

Policy and Advocacy: Supporting the industry to advocate for policies and regulations at global and national level to ensure the rapid and long-term growth of the solar PV industry.
Network Building and Knowledge: Bringing together policymakers, industry, international institutions, and investors to provide them with best practices and build capacity to open doors to new markets and business opportunities.
Standard Setting and Solutions: Leveraging our expertise to develop and promote global standards and solutions for solar PV to shape a competitive, high-quality, and sustainable industry.

"Our new strategy emphasizes collaboration and innovation," said Dunlop. "By joining the GSC in its mission, members will be part of a collective effort to overcome barriers and boost opportunities for solar PV deployment worldwide."

New Work Streams and Regional Working Groups

As part of this renewed strategic vision, the GSC also announced new work streams focusing on key areas essential for the future growth of the solar PV industry. These work streams will be a collaboration between GSC members and other key stakeholders who are experts and changemakers in their field.

GSC’s new work streams include:

Grid Integration and Storage: Led by SMA Solar, this workstream aims to share best practice on enhancing grid capacity and flexibility to accommodate the increasing generation of solar power, explore how solar can provide grid services and address technical and regulatory challenges. The workstream will seek to put the grid challenge at the top of the global political agenda.
Finance: Led by Jinko Solar, this workstream will develop innovative financial solutions and frameworks to make solar investments more accessible and attractive, especially in emerging markets, by engaging both private sector investors and development banks. It will create a global dialogue for the first time between the PV industry and financial sector to resolve common challenges and reduce the cost of finance for solar.
Supply Chain: Led as a collaboration by industry representatives from all regions of the world, this workstream focuses on strengthening the solar supply chain to ensure transparency, resilience, competition and sustainability.
Skills: Led in collaboration with GWO, an experienced training standards specialist, this workstream is dedicated to building a skilled workforce capable of supporting the expansion of the solar industry. A key deliverable of this workstream will be the development of the Solar Training Standards Initiative.

In addition to the topical work streams, GSC will continue to develop its Regional Groups focusing on Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These groups will work closely with members in the region and local stakeholders .

Membership and Collaboration Opportunities

The GSC is now inviting companies and associations involved in the solar industry globally to join its growing network and be part of the organization’s renewed strategy to accelerate solar deployment worldwide. Membership offers a range of benefits, including enhanced marketing and visibility, market expansion support, policy intelligence and access to B2B and B2G networking opportunities.

For more information on membership and to become part of the solar revolution, click here.