The photo is sourced from sundrivesolar.com
The main feature of the SunDrive solar panel is copper used f instead of silver as a conductor. This may dramatically reduce the costs. The copper average price at the London exchange in August 2022 was 87 times lower than the one of silver ($7,982 per ton against $695,744 per ton, according to the World Bank). However, impossibility to use screen printing technologies for applying copper onto silicon wafers has long been considered an obstacle. The SunDrive specialists conducted hundreds of experiments before finding the way to cover the surface of solar cells with copper.
Introduction of a full-sized photovoltaic panel with copper conductors in December 2021 means that the company has already made the first step towards commercialisation of its own development. The next step could be collaboration with the major solar cell suppliers, which would allow SunDrive to enter the market and avoid building of a new production facility from scratch.
The SunDrive’s development might increase solar energy availability in the countries without large silver reserves. China remains the world leader in reducing the cost of building photovoltaic panels. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2020 the unit cost of building solar power plants in China ($650 per kilowatt of capacity) was 60% lower than in the United States ($1,100 per kilowatt). At the same time, China ranks second in the world in silver production, while the United States – only the eighth (3,400 tons versus 1,000 tons, according to the 2021 Statista data).
