The devil is in the details, as they say, and when it comes to the next generation of mass-produced, high-efficiency PV cells, silver costs may be devilishly hard to reduce. Making things worse, prices for the precious metal are now heading in the wrong direction.

The share of silver in the total cost of PV modules has increased by around 5% in recent months, according to US analyst Matthew Watson. He told pv magazine that silver prices are set to rise, adding that the metal will eventually account for an even larger percentage of overall module costs.

According to JinkoSolar vice president Dany Qian, PV panel prices rose significantly since the second quarter of last year due to an increasing shortage of polysilicon, glass, silver, and module frames. She also stated that rushing demand cannot stop prices from rising for at least the next six months or longer, until sufficient capacity ramps up.

Επέκταση εγγύησης LG Therma V R32 Monobloc από 2 σε 5 έτη

Growatt inverters -Δωρεάν επέκταση εγγύησης από 5 σε 10 έτη συνολικά

A white paper published earlier in December by PV Evolution Labs investigates the formation of performance damaging cracks in PV cells, based on mechanical stress testing of more than 40 commercially available PV modules. While the lab warns that susceptibility to cracking will change according to the specific bill of materials making up each module, certain technologies are shown to perform better than others.

An advocate general at the European Court of Justice has said Italy’s decision to amend the terms of signed, 20-year solar incentive contracts in 2014 does not conflict with European law.

polysilicon price spikes

Light and shade of 500 W plus solar panels

IEA Global Energy Review 2020