In Short : Soaring silver prices are creating cost pressures for solar manufacturers, prompting efforts to reduce or replace silver usage in photovoltaic technologies. As silver is a critical input for solar cells, companies are exploring alternative materials, efficiency improvements, and new manufacturing processes to control costs while maintaining performance and supporting large-scale solar deployment.

In Detail : The sharp rise in global silver prices has become a growing concern for the solar industry, as silver is a key raw material used in photovoltaic cell manufacturing. Solar firms are increasingly facing higher production costs, which could impact project economics, equipment pricing, and long-term profitability if material dependency is not addressed.

Silver is primarily used in the conductive paste that forms electrical contacts in solar cells, enabling efficient flow of electricity. Although the amount of silver per cell has reduced over the years through technological improvements, the scale of global solar deployment means overall demand for silver continues to rise significantly.

With silver prices reaching multi-year highs, manufacturers are under pressure to optimize material usage. Rising input costs can reduce margins for module producers and increase capital expenditure for solar developers, particularly in price-sensitive markets where competitive tariffs leave little room for cost escalation.

To manage these risks, solar companies are investing in research and development to reduce silver content in solar cells. Techniques such as thinner conductive lines, improved cell architectures, and more precise manufacturing processes are helping minimize silver usage without compromising electrical efficiency.

Some firms are also exploring alternative materials to partially or fully replace silver. Copper, aluminum, and other conductive metals are being tested as potential substitutes, although challenges remain in terms of durability, efficiency, corrosion resistance, and long-term performance under harsh operating conditions.

Technological innovation is playing a crucial role in this transition. Advanced cell designs such as TOPCon, heterojunction, and back-contact technologies allow more efficient use of conductive materials, enabling manufacturers to achieve higher power output with lower precious metal consumption.

From a strategic perspective, reducing silver dependence is also about long-term supply security. Silver is used across multiple industries, including electronics, electric vehicles, and investment markets, making it vulnerable to supply constraints and speculative price movements that can disrupt solar manufacturing plans.

Policy and market dynamics further influence this shift. As governments push for rapid renewable energy expansion, keeping solar affordable is essential for achieving climate targets. Material cost control becomes a critical factor in maintaining the competitiveness of solar power compared to other energy sources.

Overall, the solar industry’s efforts to cut or replace silver usage reflect a broader trend toward material efficiency and technological resilience. By reducing reliance on expensive and volatile inputs, solar manufacturers can protect project economics, strengthen supply chains, and ensure the continued scalability of solar energy in a rapidly evolving global energy landscape.

With silver prices rising, more large solar manufacturers are expected to switch to copper for cell metallization. Radovan Kopecek of ISC Konstanz tells pv magazine that he expects the entire industry to follow. Ning Song of the University of New South Wales says a small efficiency tradeoff may be acceptable if the cost savings are significant and do not introduce new reliability risks.

The recent surge in silver prices has eased slightly, with prices per troy ounce now just below the all-time high of over $94 per troy ounce reached earlier this week. Following announcements by Chinese module manufacturer Longi announced that it is moving toward copper-based metallization, and by China-based metallization paste supplier DK Electronic Materials that a gigawatt-scale customer will adopt its high-copper paste for commercial production, 2026 could mark a key milestone in the PV industry’s phase-down of the costly metal.

“I do think that the industry will follow in those footsteps, as the PV industry is a ‘follower industry.” When the big players start with something, the others follow,” Radovan Kopecek, the co-founder and director of German research institute the International Solar Energy Research Center Konstanz (ISC Konstanz), told pv magazine. “An immediate transition to copper is technically and economically feasible. Copper screen printing can be implemented quickly, and we have received many inquiries about it.”

According to Kopecek, project developers are “absolutely” ready to embrace copper-metallized products, adding that when the technology is properly implemented, performance does not differ from that of silver-metallized modules. “However, I do not expect the industry to abandon silver completely,” he said. “Silver will remain at around 2 mg to 3 mg per watt, as it is still needed for firing through, as a diffusion barrier, and to establish contact with the emitter.”

Ning Song, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia, explained that even if adopting a high-copper paste results in a small efficiency drop, the price trade-off should be acceptable to manufacturers. “That trade-off is acceptable if it does not introduce new reliability risks. Ultimately, the decision depends on how well the efficiency loss can be offset at the module and system level,” she told pv magazine.

Song's team is currently working to identify practical pathways to reduce silver usage in PV cells, both through incremental improvements to existing screen-printed metallization and longer-term exploration of alternative paste systems. “In the short term, aggressive silver thrifting within existing screen-printing processes is the most commercially ready option, as it minimizes disruption to current manufacturing lines,” she stated.

“From a purely technical perspective, the most promising long-term solution is the one that delivers the best combination of low contact resistance, minimal recombination losses at the contacts, high conductivity, sufficient ductility to enable narrow, well-shaped gridlines with reduced optical shading, and robust long-term reliability,” she said. “That is regardless of the specific metal used.”