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The recent slight decline in silver prices follows a surge that peaked at over $94 per troy ounce. Chinese module manufacturer Longi announced a shift toward copper-based metallization, and DK Electronic Materials revealed a gigawatt-scale customer will adopt its high-copper paste for production.

These developments suggest 2026 could be pivotal for the photovoltaic (PV) industry's reduction of silver usage. Radovan Kopecek from ISC Konstanz indicated that transitioning to copper is both technically and economically feasible, with many project developers ready to adopt copper-metallized products.

Despite the shift, he expects silver will remain necessary at around 2 to 3 mg per watt for specific functions. Ning Song from UNSW noted that while adopting high-copper paste might entail minor efficiency losses, the cost trade-off is acceptable if reliability is maintained. Her team is exploring pathways to reduce silver use in PV cells through enhancements in metallization processes.