At a glance
- Company: Waaree Energies Limited (WEL)
- Industry: Solar PV Module manufacturing
- Markets: US, UK, EU, Asia
- Challenge: Meeting global supply chain transparency, ESG and compliance expectations for large‑scale solar exports
- Solution: Independent onsite and desktop supplier audits across seven countries
- Outcome: Greater confidence in supplier compliance, improved export readiness and stronger assurance for customers and stakeholders
WEL is one of India’s leading solar PV manufacturers, with an installed capacity of approximately 25 GW. The company supplies solar modules and components to large-scale renewable energy projects in more than 25 countries, including key markets such as the US, the UK and Europe.
As WEL continues to scale globally, its supply chain plays a critical role in meeting evolving regulatory requirements and rising expectations from customers around transparency, compliance, and responsible sourcing.
The Vision: To build a supplier network whose ESG, safety, governance, and compliance standards align with the expectations of regulators, financiers, and end customers in every market it serves.
As WEL expands into major solar markets across the US, the UK and Europe, its products are increasingly embedded in projects that carry heightened scrutiny from regulators, financiers and end customers.
In these markets, large‑scale solar installations are subject not only to performance and delivery expectations, but also to growing requirements around supply chain transparency, ethical sourcing, and compliance verification. From customer diligence processes in the UK and EU to enhanced transparency and documentation checks at the US border, solar manufacturers must be able to evidence where critical components are sourced, how suppliers operate, and whether minimum ESG, health and safety, governance and compliance standards are consistently met.
For Waaree, this meant ensuring its rapid growth was supported by a supplier network that could stand up to global scrutiny. One‑off onboarding questionnaires and supplier declarations were no longer sufficient. Instead, Waaree required independent, evidence‑based assurance that its suppliers operating across multiple jurisdictions and product categories were meeting expectations consistently and defensibly.
To support this, Waaree Energies, one of India’s largest solar manufacturers, partnered with Achilles to deliver a comprehensive supplier audit programme spanning seven countries and seven critical product categories. The programme combined onsite and desktop audits to verify ESG, health and safety, governance and compliance standards across Waaree’s supplier base, providing greater confidence in supplier performance while supporting both export obligations and long‑term international growth ambitions.
As we grow into other markets with detailed reporting expectations, the confidence we can offer our customers about everything that goes into a Waaree module matters more than ever. Working with Achilles has given us targeted, independent assurance on the suppliers that matter most, along with a clearer, more consistent view of risk across every region we source from. That visibility has become an important part of how our procurement and ESG teams make decisions.
Amit Lalani, Senior General Manager, Waaree Energies Limited
The Challenge: Meeting global solar supply chain compliance expectations
The solar industry’s supply chain is concentrated in regions where verifying labour practices, environmental controls, and governance frameworks remotely is difficult. As Waaree scaled, its procurement and ESG leadership identified a set of interconnected challenges, intensified by export obligations and shifting trade policy:
- Limited on-ground visibility into supplier practices across regions.
- Increasing expectations from global markets, particularly in the EU and US, for verifiable ESG and compliance performance.
- Reliance on self-disclosed supplier data, which often does not fully reflect operational realities.
- Inconsistent assessment standards across the supplier base, with no shared framework for grading, comparing, or remediating findings.
- Reputational and continuity risk tied to strategically critical suppliers that have not been independently verified onsite.
In a sector under growing scrutiny, particularly around labour practices and sourcing transparency, Waaree required a more structured and credible way to assess supplier performance.
The Approach: Boots-on-the-ground, independent, evidence-based audits
Waaree partnered with Achilles to design and deliver a targeted supplier audit programme built for both scale and depth.
A Programme Designed for Global Reach
The audit programme covered suppliers located across multiple international geographies, reflecting the global nature of Waaree’s supply chain and a range of critical product categories supporting solar manufacturing.
Blended Audit Methodology
Achilles deployed a hybrid approach to ensure both coverage and rigour:
- Onsite audits, enabling direct validation of operational practices, worker conditions, and management systems on the factory floor.
- Desktop audits, ensuring continuity where access constraints existed.
The blended methodology allowed Waaree to balance efficiency with the need for detailed, evidence-based assessment. Onsite audits, conducted by Achilles auditors with local presence and language fluency, are particularly important in identifying risks that are not visible through remote assessments alone. Where onsite access was constrained, Achilles applied a structured remote methodology covering documentation review, video walkthroughs, and management interviews under the same assessment framework.
For manufacturers serving the EU, US, and other markets with detailed non-financial reporting expectations, evidence-based supplier assurance has become both a regulatory and a commercial requirement. Frameworks such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), and the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act all require validated insight into supplier conditions.
The Outcome: Improved supplier visibility, verified compliance, and export-ready assurance
Through its partnership with Achilles, Waaree Energies established a more transparent and defensible approach to supplier assurance across its global solar manufacturing supply chain. Independent onsite and desktop audits improved visibility into supplier ESG, health and safety, governance and compliance performance, supporting Waaree’s export obligations and strengthening confidence among international customers.
The audit programme delivered a structured, consistent view of supplier risk and performance across Waaree’s most strategically important product categories. For Waaree, this translated into several specific outcomes:
- A consolidated assessment of suppliers measured against a single, comparable framework.
- Recognition of positive practices within the supplier base, providing examples that can be shared and replicated across other suppliers and tiers.
- A documented evidence base that aligns with the requirements of leading non-financial reporting frameworks, supporting Waaree’s compliance and disclosure obligations across export markets.
- A repeatable assurance framework that Waaree can extend to additional supplier tiers and geographies as its manufacturing footprint continues to expand.
Together, these outcomes have further strengthened Waaree’s understanding of its supplier base and established a comprehensive baseline for continuous supplier monitoring, development, and risk management.
For companies operating in global supply chains, particularly in sectors such as renewable energy, supplier assurance is increasingly central to business continuity, regulatory compliance, and customer confidence. Independent, onsite audit programmes move organisations from reliance on self-declared data to validated, defensible insight, supporting more informed procurement decisions and stronger supplier risk management.
Achilles supports organisations with targeted supplier audit programmes and end-to-end supplier risk visibility, helping organisations meet rising regulatory expectations and maintain confidence across complex international supply chains.
Frequently asked questions
Why are supplier audits important for solar manufacturers?
Supplier audits help solar manufacturers independently verify ESG, health and safety, governance and compliance standards across complex global supply chains, supporting regulatory expectations and customer confidence.
How do supplier audits support international solar exports?
Independent audits provide evidence that suppliers meet required standards, helping manufacturers demonstrate transparency and compliance when exporting into regulated markets such as the US, the UK and the EU.
