Longi Starts Mass Production of Copper-Based Solar Cells
China's largest solar manufacturer, Longi Green Energy Technology Co., has begun mass production of a new generation of solar cells that replace silver with copper-based materials, as soaring silver prices have pushed the industry to look for lower-cost alternatives.
由于白银价格飙升，太阳能行业不得不寻找成本更低的替代品。中国最大的太阳能制造商隆基绿能已开始大规模生产新一代太阳能电池，它用铜替代了银。
The company said Thursday that its new 21-gigawatt back-contact (BC) cell production line at its Xixian manufacturing base in Shaanxi province is now in operation, marking the start of large-scale implementation of its Alloy Contact Matrix (ACM) technology.
7月9日，隆基绿能宣布，公司位于陕西省西咸制造基地的新建21吉瓦BC电池生产线已投入运营，这标志着隆基“纳米合金矩阵式接触”（ACM）技术首次实现规模落地。
The ACM process replaces conventional silver paste with a copper-based alloy contact system, allowing silver to be eliminated from BC cells while remaining compatible with existing screen-printing processes. Longi said the technology can be brought into production without requiring major changes to existing production lines.
ACM工艺利用铜合金替代传统的银浆，从而在BC电池中彻底去除了银的使用，同时又能兼容现有的丝网印刷工艺。隆基绿能表示，该技术无需对现有生产线进行重大改造即可投入生产。
The launch comes as solar manufacturers face mounting pressure from elevated silver prices. Silver is one of the most expensive non-silicon materials used in solar cells, and its sharp price increase over the past year has accelerated industry efforts to reduce dependence on the precious metal.
此次投产正值太阳能制造商面临银价高企带来的巨大压力之际。银是太阳能电池中昂贵的非硅材料，过去一年银价的急剧上涨促使行业加快减少对这种贵金属依赖的步伐。
Longi said the new technology improves cell conversion efficiency by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage points compared with its previous-generation process, while increasing module output by 3 to 5 watts. The company added that ACM cells have achieved a certified conversion efficiency of 27.6%, with modules reaching a certified power output of 672 watts.
隆基绿能表示，ACM技术使转换效率提升了0.2%-0.3%，组件功率提升了3-5瓦。该公司补充称，ACM电池转换效率已达27.6%，组件功率达到672瓦。
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GreenergyDaily
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