Featured in Solving the PERC puzzle – 12-2015

Copper plating for PV cells

An alternative to silver paste: Copper plating is widely used both in the semiconductor industry and for bifacial and multi-junction PV cell designs. However, despite technical and cost advantages it has not been widely used for front-side metallization of standard crystalline silicon cells. Will copper plating replace silver paste for front-side metallization and, if so, when?
By
Christian Roselund

Silver is not cheap. Despite a fall in prices over the last four years to pre-2010 levels, silver was still above $14 per ounce at the time of going to print. And not only is silver relatively expensive, it also is subject to wide swings in prices. During the last four years the price of …

pv magazine
Subscribe to get access to this content
Purchase a digital or print subscription to read this article in full. Choose the best subscription for you.
View our subscription options