Solar Manufacturers Pivot to Copper-Based Solutions as Silver Costs Reach Unprecedented Heights

The global solar industry faces an unprecedented supply-chain challenge. As silver prices have surged to record levels—hitting US$93.77 per ounce in January 2025, more than double the September 2024 price—major photovoltaic producers are scrambling to reimagine their production processes. What was once a peripheral cost consideration has now become a critical pain point threatening industry margins.

The Silver Crisis: From Commodity to Constraint

Silver’s role in solar panel manufacturing is fundamental. The metal’s exceptional thermal and electrical conductivity makes it indispensable for efficient photovoltaic cells. Yet the numbers tell a troubling story: according to Bloomberg NEF analysis, silver consumption accounts for approximately 14 percent of solar panel production costs today—a dramatic jump from just 5 percent in 2023. This escalation mirrors the metal’s explosive price trajectory.

The root cause reveals itself in market dynamics. Solar energy’s exponential growth has transformed the sector into one of the world’s largest industrial consumers of silver. This surge in demand now competes directly with other high-value applications including electronics and investment portfolios. The resulting supply-demand imbalance has created a structural problem: solar module manufacturers are squeezed between rising input costs and intense margin pressures from global competition.

China’s dominance in solar manufacturing amplifies this challenge. Chinese producers control over 80 percent of worldwide PV manufacturing capacity across the entire supply chain—from polysilicon and wafers to cells and completed modules. When Chinese leaders move, the entire industry shifts.

The Base Metal Revolution: From Silver to Copper

In response to this cost crisis, China’s solar manufacturing titans have begun a technological pivot. Starting in Q2 2025, LONGi Green Energy plans to commence mass production of solar cells using base metals instead of silver. This move signals more than a cost-reduction initiative; it represents a fundamental redesign of solar panel architecture and manufacturing processes.

LONGi Green Energy is not alone. JinkoSolar Holding has announced plans for large-scale silver-free solar panel production, while Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy has already demonstrated viability with 6.5 gigawatt solar cells manufactured without silver. These aren’t experimental projects—they represent the industry’s technological leaders making strategic production pivots.

The convergence of efforts among these major players suggests this transition is no isolated trend but rather a structural shift in how solar cells are engineered and assembled.

Copper as Alternative: Promise and Practical Limits

Copper emerges as the preferred base metal alternative. Both copper and silver have experienced significant price rallies driven by expanding clean technology and artificial intelligence infrastructure demand. However, silver currently commands an extraordinary price premium—trading at approximately 22,000 percent higher than copper per troy ounce. This differential creates compelling economic incentives for substitution.

The case for copper appears compelling on paper. The red metal offers several advantages: it’s far more abundant than silver, substantially cheaper, and supported by a more diversified and resilient supply chain. These characteristics address the industry’s core concern: how to scale production without encountering bottlenecks in critical raw materials.

Yet technical realities complicate this straightforward transition. Copper’s electrical conductivity, while excellent, trails silver’s performance. More problematically, copper exhibits oxidation tendencies and degradation patterns that raise questions about long-term component reliability. For solar installations expected to operate for 25+ years under demanding environmental conditions, durability represents a non-negotiable requirement.

The manufacturing process itself presents another obstacle. Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology currently dominates the solar industry, but adapting copper to TOPCon cell fabrication requires extremely high processing temperatures that introduce additional technical complications. This manufacturing pathway proves far more complex than alternative architectures.

Back-Contact Technology: The Copper-Friendly Path

LONGi Green Energy’s strategic advantage lies in its focus on back-contact (BC) cell architecture. BC technology simplifies copper integration compared to conventional TOPCon processes. Emerging data indicates that new generations of copper-metallized cells are achieving efficiency levels increasingly comparable to traditional silver-based designs—with some installations even demonstrating improvements in mechanical strength and module durability.

The performance differential between architectures is meaningful: back-contact modules have demonstrated field-tested capacity to generate up to 11 percent more energy over their operational lifetime compared to TOPCon technology when exposed to identical conditions. This efficiency advantage creates a potential technical justification for the architectural transition beyond pure cost considerations.

However, the industry faces a timing challenge. TOPCon technology is projected to account for 70 percent of the market in 2026. Manufacturing costs for back-contact cells are not expected to reach competitive parity with TOPCon production until the decade’s end. This timeline suggests a period of technological coexistence—with both approaches operating simultaneously through 2028-2030—rather than abrupt wholesale industry transition.

Market Implications and Silver Demand Forecast

The substitution movement carries measurable market consequences. The Silver Institute projects industrial silver demand will decline by 2 percent in 2025 to 665 million ounces. Notably, the solar sector specifically is projected to reduce silver consumption by approximately 5 percent despite global PV installation records reaching new highs. This paradox reflects the sharp reduction in silver utilization per manufactured module.

If solar sector demand for silver sustains this downward trajectory, market dynamics could shift meaningfully. The question remains whether this represents a temporary adjustment or a permanent structural change in the industry’s material composition. Current evidence suggests that through at least 2026-2028, both silver-based and copper-based manufacturing processes will operate in parallel as the industry executes this transition.

The evolution toward base metal alternatives—including copper-based toggle switch panel components and other integrated systems—demonstrates how price pressure catalyzes technological innovation. For solar manufacturers, this pivot toward copper represents not merely a cost-reduction strategy but an accelerated pathway toward next-generation panel architectures that could redefine industry efficiency standards over the coming decade.