Background

Metallization is a key step in the production of silicon solar cells. It involves creating electrodes on the surface of wafers through conductive paste printing and sintering, or copper electroplating, to extract the photo-generated carriers from the cell. Pastes include categories such as silver paste, copper paste, silver-copper paste, silver-aluminum paste, and aluminum paste. Composed of a conductive materials, binders, and organic carriers, paste serves as a critical material in the metallization process of solar cells, significantly impacting both the efficiency and cost of the cells.

Global annual newly installed PV capacity is projected to exceed 700 GW in 2026, creating a massive market worth tens of billions of dollars for the solar cell paste and metallization industry chain. Advanced paste formulations and metallization processes are helping heterojunction, TOPCon, and XBC cells achieve mass production efficiencies of 27% and are expected to support crystalline silicon-perovskite tandem cells in reaching mass production efficiencies above 30%. Meanwhile, lean-silver or silver-free technologies are continuously driving down metallization costs. These technologies include ultra-fine line printing, full-aperture Steel Mesh, copper electroplating, copper paste, silver-coated copper, aluminum paste, and 0BB designs.

Photovoltaic enterprises and research institutions are continuously striving to develop new technologies aimed at further enhancing the efficiency of solar cells. These advancements also require support from advanced conductive pastes and metallization processes. Technologies such as multi-wafer segmentation, edge passivation, and PolyFinger can significantly improve the efficiency of TOPCon cells, making the development of compatible advanced conductive pastes particularly crucial. While striving for higher efficiency, TBC, HBC and Si-perovskite tandem cells also impose more stringent requirements on metallization pastes. These include reducing metal-induced recombination, improving contact properties, optimizing grid-line morphology, and broadening the process window.

Copper electroplating technology holds significant potential. Tongwei has already overcome key technical challenges on its GW-level HJT pilot line, including mass production of 15μm fine-line copper grid lines, continuous flexible-contact electroplating, and interconnection technology for copper-grid HJT cells. The use of silver-coated copper powder in pastes has substantially reduced silver content. The combined application of silver-coated copper paste with laser printing to printing (PTP) technology, silver-coated copper paste with full-aperture steel mesh, and copper electroplating with 0BB technology is expected to further enhance efficiency and reduce costs.

12th Solar Cell Paste and Metallization Forum 2026 will be held on March 19th in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. The conference will address the following topics: PV Industry Outlook and Paste Market Prospects. HJT, TOPCon, and XBC Cell Technologies and Metallization Processes. Laser Equipment and Silver Paste for LECO. Laser Printing to Printing, Full-Aperture Steel Mesh, Copper Paste, Silver-Coated Copper, Aluminum Paste, Copper Electroplating, and 0BB Technologies and Their Applications. Research on Conductivity Mechanisms and Contact Mechanisms in Metallization. Prospects of Metallization Processes and Paste Technologies for Si-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells.

Topics

1. Global and Chinese PV Industry Outlook and Paste Market Prospects

2. HJT, TOPCon, and XBC Cell Technologies and Metallization Processes

3. Research on Conductivity Mechanisms and Contact Mechanisms in Metallization

4. Key Components for Advanced Pastes: Conductive Materials, Binders, and Organic Carriers.

5. Laser Equipment and Silver Paste for Laser Enhanced Contact Optimization (LECO)

6. Advantages of Multi-wafer Segmentation + Edge Passivation + PolyFinger Technology and the Matching Advanced Paste

7. Key Points of Metallization Processes and Conductive Pastes for XBC Cells (HPBC, TBC, and HBC)

8. Latest Developments in Laser Printing to Printing (PTP) Technology and Equipment

9. The Combined Application of Silver-Coated Copper Paste and Laser Printing to  Printing (PTP) Technology

10. Latest Developments in Full-Aperture Steel Mesh Technology

11. Practical Experience Summary: Combined Application of Silver-Coated Copper Paste and Steel Mesh

12. High-Reliability Silver-Coated Copper Powder Technology and Preparation Processes

13. Mass Production Practice of Seed-Layer Paste and High-Copper Content Paste for Lean-Silver Metallization

14. Long-Term Reliability Study of Copper Paste and Silver-Coated Copper Paste

15. Copper Electroplating Equipment Selection: Seed Layer Preparation, Patterning, Metallization, and Post-Processing

16. Analysis of Challenges in Copper Electroplating Processes: Yield, Uniformity, Wafer Breakage Rate, and Energy Consumption

17. Operation Status and Demonstration Experience of PV Cell Copper Electroplating Pilot Lines

18. 0BB Process Route Selection, Advanced Equipment, and Grid Carrying Film

19. The Combined Application of Copper Electroplating and 0BB Technology

20. Ultra-Low Temperature Curing Silver Paste for Si-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells

21. Research on the Mask and Copper Electroplating Application of Metallization in Si-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells

22. Advantages and Challenges of Copper Paste and Silver-Coated Copper Paste in Si-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells

Program

March. 18th

16:00-20:00  Pre-conference Registration 

March. 19th

08:50-12:30  Speech

12:30-14:00  Networking Lunch

14:00-18:00  Speech

18:00-20:00  Banquet