Silver Paste

According to the 2020 World Silver Survey 2020 by the U.S.-based Silver Institute, the metal’s price will decline by only 3% this year, despite the impact that the Covid-19 crisis will also have on demand. In the global PV industry, silver demand is forecast to drop 3% from 98.7 million ounces in 2019 to 96.1 million ounces this year.

A team tasked by the European Commission with estimating the raw material requirements of the European energy transition found if global PV roll-out is high, and the component requirements of certain solar technologies don’t improve by a greater margin, some elements could end up in short supply.

A U.S. research group has developed a metal-carbon-nanotube composite – MetZilla – which can be embedded in commercial, screen-printable silver pastes and is said to reduce the formation of hotspots in solar modules and to prolong panel lifespan. The composite metal contacts are also ‘self-healing’ as they are able to regain electrical continuity after cycles of complete electrical failure caused by extreme strain.

Fraunhofer ISE has worked with German technology companies to improve the metallization process in silicon solar cells. The result could drive down module costs quite a bit.

pv magazine’s Quality Roundtable at the 2018 Renewable Energy India (REI) Expo, took place in front of a packed audience. It discussed current problem areas in the India solar industry; how solar developers and solution providers can improve the quality of PV installations; and innovative financial instruments to reduce the cost of debt and scale up infrastructure investment.

German silver paste manufacturer Heraeus announced that it has appealed the decision of Taiwanese regional intellectual property (IP) court, following its July 7th decision that Giga Solar does not infringe on its patent.

New white paper by the German-headquartered silver paste specialists examines effect of new generation of tabbing pastes on mono- and multi-PERC solar cell wafers, leading to higher efficiencies.

The German metallization and silver paste specialist will collaborate with Solar Space on the creation of regular new dual printing and other techniques in the pursuit of optimized metallization paste performance.

The German silver paste specialist is ramping up its global team to support its strategic pivot towards becoming an integrated solution provider. Majority of new hires expected to be in China, company confirms.

Two different reports highlight how PV demand is currently improving silver’s industrial offtake. The Silver Institute says that prices have increased 9% since the beginning of this year, while ETF Securities says that mining capital expenditure and investments are declining, and that this could further weigh on silver supply.