Metallization paste producer DKEM’s New Technology Development Director Fangqing Guo traced the evolution of metallization solutions for the IBC cell technology while speaking on Day 4 of the 4-day TaiyangNews High Efficiency Solar Technologies 2024 Conference.
Out of the various BC cell structures, from an efficiency and cost-effectiveness point of view, Guo picked n-TBC and HBC as having the highest potential for growth in the future.
Silver paste represents a significant amount of non-silicon cost in PV production, especially for TBC. Right now, the TOPCon silver cost consumption is about 9 mg/W to 10 mg/W. For the sustainable development of TBC cells, it is important to look into solutions to bring down this cost.
At DKEM, Guo says fine-line printing is one approach to reducing silver costs. For TOPCon front and rear, its customers prefer narrower than 10 microns, but for BC it is still more than 30 microns, thus there exists room for further reduction in the latter. The adoption of 0BB will also greatly reduce silver consumption for TBC as is a growing trend in the industry.
Lowering silver content is another approach, but the long-term approach is the base metal paste. This will involve completely replacing silver with copper or any other metal. This requires further research into the aspects of reliability and cost-effectiveness, which DKEM is currently conducting. A lot of data is required to eventually convince the customers to go silver-free, he added.
For more presentation videos and conference summaries for all 4 days of the TaiyangNews High Efficiency Solar Technologies 2024 Conference, click here for days 1 and 2, and here for days 3 and 4.
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