| Project Detail |
Inexpensive and eco-friendly copper for heterojunction solar cell metallisation
Photovoltaic technology promises to make a huge contribution to global energy needs with significant increases in efficiency and decreases in cost over the last decades. Heterojunction solar cells are among the most promising; however, the metallisation process that enhances performance and long-term reliability faces challenges. It generates high levels of emissions and relies on silver, contributing to over 30 % of production costs. The EU-funded iSPLASH project will develop a low cost and more sustainable copper metallisation process. It will pave the way to low-cost and more environmentally friendly heterojunction solar cells, encouraging uptake while ensuring this renewable form of energy is produced in an eco-friendly way.
Despite the boom in the photovoltaics industry, there are still barriers to solar cell deployment. Costly and cumbersome manufacturing processes emitting high levels of GHG are a major hindrance. A key step in cell manufacture is metallisation, representing over 30% of the cost of manufacture. Currently, heterojunction (HJT) cell metallisation utilises silver paste, which has major disadvantages in terms of cost, efficiency and environmental impact. Alternative metals, such as copper, can overcome these challenges; however, efficient process technology has not yet been brought to market. The iSPLASH project will cause a paradigm shift in HJT cell metallisation. Our technology will be the only processing technology on the market to cost effectively exploit the low price of copper and facilitate the reliable and precise, fine line deposition of copper onto HJT cells, completely eliminating the use of silver. iSPLASH technology will reduce metallisation costs by 90% and carbon emissions. |
