Trends in PV metallization

The photovoltaic industry remains a major end user of printed electronics. In this article, we will provide a detailed cost breakdown of the wafer-based silicon photovoltaic cells, showing that Ag and Al metallization continue to constitute a major cost element of the overall PV cell even though the manufacturers make to zero margin. We will then investigate some of the trends in Ag metallization before commenting on silicon inks, which at one point appeared to be the technology that increased efficiency but were leapfrogged by progress in metallization pastes.