Turkey's Research Team Develops Low-Silver TOPCon Solar Cell with High Efficiency

Published: May 23, 2025 18:35

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A research team from Turkey's Odtu-Gunam Institute, in collaboration with Necmettin Erbakan University, has developed a TOPCon solar cell that utilizes nickel (Ni) contacts and contains almost no silver (Ag). The silver usage in this cell is less than 0.0005 grams per watt, significantly lower than the 0.013–0.02 grams per watt required for traditional silver-contacted cells, while still achieving nearly the same efficiency (23.66% vs. 23.71%). The team employed silver-doped nickel paste and optimized the contact structure, including functional layers such as silicon monoxide (SiOX), silicon nitride (a-SiNx), and nickel oxide (NiO), to maintain high performance while substantially reducing silver usage. This innovation is expected to significantly reduce production costs and enhance the sustainability and scalability of solar cell manufacturing.

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