An Innovative Ag‐Coated Cu Metallization and Grid Optimization Approach for Cost‐Effective Bifacial Heterojunction Solar Cells

Silicon heterojunction (HJT) solar cells are limited by the high cost and resource constraints of conventionalscreen‐printed Ag metallization, especially in bifacial architectures requiring grid contacts on both sides. This work presents an innovative Ag‐coated Cu metallization and grid optimization approach as a cost‐effective alternative, combining experimental investigation with simulation‐based analysis. Drying temperatures between 120°C and 200°C are examined, with 160°C identified as optimal, promoting strong Ag‐Cu particle connections and yielding a minimum series resistance of 0.89 Ω·cm 2 and an efficiency of 22.62%. Finger‐spacing studies show that medium spacing provides the best trade‐off between resistive loss and shading, delivering J sc = 40.13 mA/cm 2 , V oc = 736.88 mV, and FF = 76.47%. Griddler 2.5 simulations further validate these trends and quantify metallization‐related power losses. Among the evaluated busbar architectures (straight, rectangular pad‐tapered, round pad, digital, two‐split, and three‐split), the simulation identifies types II–IV as optimal, achieving a maximum simulated J sc of 40.06 mA/cm 2 and FF of 77.08%, indicating reduced resistive losses through improved current‐collection geometry. These results demonstrate that optimized Ag‐coated Cu metallization can effectively replace conventional Ag contacts in bifacial HJT cells without significant efficiency loss.