Development of Metal Paste for c-Si Cells

Project Name: Development of Metal Paste for c-Si Cells

Responsible APYK: NANOVATİF MALZEME TEKNOLOJİLERİ AR-GE DAN. İTH. İHR. SAN. VE TİC. LTD. ŞTİ.

Project Principal Investigator: Dr. Hüsnü Emrah ÜNALAN

Project Information:

In crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, metal electrodes are used as current collectors on both the front and rear surfaces. The electrodes are commercially produced by screen printing, which is the most suitable method for mass production. Metal pastes are used for screen printing. On the front surface of the cells, there are electrodes made of silver paste. Silver is the metal with the highest thermal and electrical conductivity. It is predicted that the use of silver paste will continue in solar cell technologies for the next 30 years. Silver paste is the most critical process and the most expensive non-silicon material for cell technologies. The project will define the production processes and material properties required for the development of various silver pastes with low contact resistance (for PERC cells <10 mOhm/cm2, for IBC <10 mOhm/cm2, for HJT <3 mOhm/cm2), forming continuous contacts at the targeted aspect ratio in screen printing (in 30-40 µm fingers), not peeling off the surface, and solderable. The target of the project is to produce pastes that will at least reach the cell efficiency obtained with existing commercial pastes. In the project, NANOVATİF will produce three types of pastes: high-temperature paste for bifacial PERC and IBC cells, low-temperature paste for HJT cells, and conductive adhesive paste for shingled panels. The silver pastes used in the production of photovoltaic cells are not produced in our country and are imported from abroad. The importance of photovoltaic systems in terms of ensuring energy source diversity, the sustainability of resources, and energy security is undeniable. Silver paste is also one of the indispensable components of photovoltaic systems. With the proposed project, it is aimed to reduce the mandatory foreign dependency in this field by producing a product with high national added value such as silver paste. Silver pastes have quite different application areas other than photovoltaic cells. Being a strategically important material, it can also play a very effective role in terms of potential sanctions from abroad for certain sectors. In addition, with our trained personnel, the acquired know-how, and the established infrastructure in silver paste production, it will be possible to start the production of different metal pastes such as copper and aluminum.