The iSPLASH project has advanced copper-based metallisation for heterojunction solar cells beyond the silver-paste state of the art. It delivers a complete, industrial platform – plating chemistry, pulse-reverse process and automated equipment – that forms narrow mask-less, highly conductive copper fingers on thin silicon solar cells with high throughput and low breakage. A ultra-thin nickel buffer layer creates stable, low-resistance contact, giving cell efficiencies at least equal to, and often slightly above, silver references, while maintaining excellent mechanical robustness and adhesion.
Beyond technical performance, iSPLASH quantifies environmental and economic gains. Life-cycle assessment shows major reductions in climate impact and use of scarce metals, and cost-of-ownership analysis confirms significantly lower metallization cost per cell through cheaper materials and removal of high-temperature firing.
The platform is versatile, enabling complex metal stacks and multi-phase solder alloys, opening routes to power electronics and semiconductor packaging in addition to PV. To secure full uptake, key needs remain: large-scale industrial demonstration on thousands of cells to validate performance in real factories; extended reliability testing at module level; and access to investment and markets, including business cases and green finance. A proactive commercialisation and IP strategy, alignment with evolving standards and certification, and international partnerships with global equipment suppliers will support rapid deployment. Overall, iSPLASH moves copper metallisation from promising lab research to a near-industrial reference for clean, resource-efficient solar manufacturing with multi-sector impact potential.
