The soaring silver prices are pushing up the manufacturing costs of solar panels, prompting companies to accelerate breakthroughs in reducing silver usage.

On December 10, the spot price of silver continued to rise significantly, reaching a new historical high. Wind information data shows that the London silver spot price reached $60.911 per ounce intraday, with a year-to-date increase of over 110%; COMEX silver also hit a new record high at $61.435 per ounce, with a year-to-date increase of 109%. The continuous surge in silver prices is putting significant cost pressure on the photovoltaic industry. According to data from the World Silver Association, the global silver demand for photovoltaics is expected to reach 7560 tons by 2025, double that of three years ago, accounting for over 25% of total silver demand. In addition to cost pressures, companies are also facing supply-side pressures. The World Silver Association estimates that the global silver supply-demand gap will reach 3659 tons by 2025, equivalent to the global production output for four months. Faced with this dilemma, photovoltaic companies are actively seeking technological breakthroughs to reduce their reliance on silver from multiple dimensions. Shanghai Aixu New Energy Co., Ltd. stated at the third-quarter performance briefing this year that the company had pioneered in researching and developing and mass-producing copper interconnection technology at its Zhuhai base, based on the anticipated bottleneck of silver consumption in the industry years ago. In the current situation of silver prices hitting new highs, the cost advantages are even more prominent.