Silver Paste

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.

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 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.

German research institute ISC Konstanz has developed a new method to measure the contact resistance of solar cell interconnections made with electrically conductive adhesives (ECA). The proposed approach reportedly enables the precise characterization of both contact resistivity and bulk resistivity.

Demand for silver in the photovoltaic industry hit 193.5 million ounces in 2023, according to the Silver Institute. It predicts that demand will grow by another 20% in 2024.

Researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer ISE developed new techniques to reduce silver consumption in tandem perovskite silicon solar cells and heterojunction silicon PV devices. The new processes relate to cell metallization and module interconnection.

China’s Solamet has launched a new silver paste product for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells processed with laser carrier injection technology. By solving a problem related to contact between the paste and the boron doped front surface of the silicon cell, it promises an efficiency improvement of at least 0.2% over competing products.