Despite the boom in the photovoltaics industry, there are still considerable 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, no efficient process technologies exist to exploit this opportunity.

Rise Technology, through the iSPLASH project, will cause a paradigm shift in HJT cell metallisation technology by introducing a a unique, precise and fully automated process for the metallization of HJT solar cells using copper. This novel approach guarantees a very low footprint and chemical usage, completely eliminating the use of silver. The technology will be the only processing technology to cost effectively exploit the low price of copper and facilitate the reliable and precise, fine line deposition of copper onto HJT cells.