Driven by the vigorous development of the photovoltaic industry, the alkaline etching solution industry has broad development prospects

Alkaline etching solution, also known as alkaline copper chloride etching solution, refers to a chemical additive used in the etching and polishing process of photovoltaic cells. It is generally composed of copper chloride, ammonia, ammonium chloride and other ingredients.

Etching and polishing is an important part of the photovoltaic cell manufacturing process. Etching refers to the process of selectively removing unnecessary materials from the surface of photovoltaic cells; polishing is the process of modifying the surface of silicon wafers. After surface texturing and diffusion knotting of photovoltaic cells, etching is required to remove the PN junction and PSG on the edge of the cell, and polishing is required to flatten the pyramid structure formed by texturing the silicon wafer on the back. At present, the commonly used etching and polishing media for photovoltaic cells are acidic or alkaline etching solutions.

Compared with acidic etching solutions, alkaline etching solutions have the characteristics of faster etching speed, higher etching thickness, greater etching energy, better compatibility, smaller side etching, higher safety, lower production cost, and recyclability. With its advantages such as ease of use, it has become the most widely used etching solution in the photovoltaic cell market. Driven by the booming development of the domestic photovoltaic industry, the output of photovoltaic cells continues to increase. As a key chemical additive required for the production of photovoltaic cells, the market demand for alkaline etching solutions continues to increase.

According to the“China Alkaline Etching Solution Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report 2023-2027” released by the Industrial Research Center It shows that my country’s photovoltaic cell production will be approximately 320GW in 2022, a year-on-year increase of more than 60%. Against this background, the domestic alkaline etching liquid market demand in 2022 has reached 16.258 million liters. At present, PERC cells are the main application field of alkaline etching solutions. At the same time, in the next generation of N-type batteries, alkaline etching solutions are still used in TOPcon cells. In the future, under the background of the continuous expansion of the domestic PERC cell market and the continuous increase in the market penetration rate of TOPcon cells, the market demand for alkaline etching solutions is expected to continue to grow, and the industry has broad prospects for development.

Domestic alkaline etching solution manufacturers mainly include Jiangyin Jianghua Microelectronics Materials, Shanghai Yilan Electronic Technology, Shenzhen Jieduobang Technology, Shenzhen Xingjingwei Technology, Taicang Yixin Chemical, etc. Due to technical limitations, the key technologies for alkaline etching solutions are still in the hands of companies in developed countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea. In the future, local companies will need to speed up the improvement of technology levels and product development processes, and there is huge room for industry growth.

Industry analysts said that alkaline etching solution is a key chemical additive required for etching and polishing of photovoltaic cells. It is currently used in Driven by the vigorous development of the domestic photovoltaic industry, its market demand continues to increase. At the same time, alkaline etching solution is also suitable for TOPcon cell production, and the industry shows good development prospects. However, at present, the key technology of alkaline etching solutions is still in the hands of enterprises in developed countries. There is still a big gap between domestic products and international leading products in terms of technology, scale, product performance, etc. In the future, local enterprises will need to continue to improve their technical level.