Wettability and reaction between solder and silver busbar during the tabbing process for silicon photovoltaic modules

The soldering quality of a Cu ribbon onto the Ag busbars of solar cells is one of the key factors affecting the cell-to-module loss and durability of a silicon photovoltaic module. In this study, we examined the effects of the surface chemistry and morphology of the screen-printed Ag busbars on the solder wettability and bonding uniformity of the Cu ribbon over the length of the busbar during the tabbing process. The surface of the as-fired Ag busbar was covered by a thin glass layer originating from the glass frit contained in the Ag paste. The presence of the thin glass layer significantly decreased the wettability of the solder, leading to the formation of voided regions at the solder/busbar interface. Although it had only a minor influence on solder wettability, increasing the roughness of the busbar surface resulted in the formation of more voided regions at the solder/busbar interface.