silver

Demand for silver in the PV industry hit 197.6 million ounces in 2024, according to a new report from the Silver Institute. It says the average silver price stood at $28.27 per troy ounce last year, up from $23.35 in 2023.

Researchers at the German institute are seeking to reduce silver use in heterojunction PV devices under the umbrella of an extensive research projects. Among their recent achievements there is the fabrication of a heterojunction cell that requires a minimal silver consumption of only 1.4 mg per W.

The French research institute found that switching from silver cell metallization to silver-copper metallization can lower the total silver quantity in a heterojunction module, with a total silver amount of only 14 mgAg/W being required. Their interconnection technique is based on low silver content electrically conductive adhesives and copper ribbons.

Researchers in Australia have have fabricated an aluminum contact-based TOPCon solar cell based that achieved a power conversion efficiency of 22.92%. The device was built with an aluminum contact manufacturing process that reportedly does not compromise the surface passivation quality of underlying silicon oxide layers.

China’s Haitian Group has agreed to acquire Heraeus’ photovoltaic silver paste business for $68.6 million, including 100% equity in Heraeus Photovoltaics (Shanghai), Heraeus Photovoltaic Technology (Shanghai), and Heraeus Photovoltaics Singapore.

The Silver Institute and Metals Focus says global silver demand in 2024 will largely grow due to gains from green economy applications, especially the PV sector. It expects the global silver market to show a physical deficit of around 182 million ounces in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive year of shortfall.

The price of silver has increased over 30% since the beginning of the year, with a particularly strong increase being registered in the last few months.

Developed by researchers in China, the TOPCon solar cell was screen printed with a paste made of silver and aluminum on the front side and an aluminum-only paste on the rear side. They added silicon to the aluminum paste to reduce metal recombination and improve the device’s open-circuit voltage.

Scientists have used hydrometallurgical and electrochemical processes to recover pure silver from solar cells. The proposed technique also utilizes a method known as electrodeposition-redox replacement, which reportedly increases the silver recovery rate.

Researchers at James Cook University have developed a process to synthesize graphene from tangerine peel oil, which they then used to recover silver from waste PV material. To demonstrate the quality of the recovered silver and the synthesized graphene, they made a dopamine sensor that reportedly outperformed reference devices.