An industry can survive without scale, but it cannot thrive without technology; it can endure downturns, but it must never lose its drive for innovation. This was the message conveyed at the 2026 Light and Storage Innovation Technology Conference held by Longi Green Energy Technology Co.,Ltd. (SH: 601012). Departing from previous events that spotlighted specific batteries or modules, the company chose to unveil its extensive reservoir of accumulated technological reserves all at once, under the evocative banner of its "Technology Forest."
The company's analogy is that each individual technology is a tree within this forest—independently rooted yet interconnected. These elements can be freely combined to spawn new products, new solutions, and even entirely new technological pathways. The founder and Chief Technology Officer of Longi Green Energy emphasized that none of the technologies released exist in isolation; they form an organic whole within the "Technology Forest," where they support and grow synergistically. In the future, the company can selectively "harvest" several of these "technology trees" and combine them to create targeted light and storage products that address specific customer pain points.
Tackling Industry's "Silver Anxiety"
At the conference, Longi Green Energy, a leader in Back Contact (BC) cell technology, showcased a suite of innovations. These included ACM (Alloy Contact Matrix) technology, an integrated conductive backsheet, lamination technology, hidden busbar technology, temperature-controlled alloy interconnection, smart module technology, the LONGiOneOS system, and Three-proof Pro modules. Concurrently, the company announced a new world record, achieving a conversion efficiency of 35.5% for its perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells.
The most attention-grabbing development was the ACM technology, which directly confronts the photovoltaic industry's pressing issue of silver scarcity. The sector faces a critical resource bottleneck: global proven silver reserves stand at a mere 640,000 metric tons. If annual photovoltaic cell production reaches 1000GW, the industry could face a silver shortage within a decade. Furthermore, as gridlines become finer—shrinking from 110 microns to under 20 microns—to reduce shading, shorten carrier transport paths, and cut silver paste usage, the risk of gridline breakage rises sharply. Silver is becoming a critical choke point.
Longi Green Energy's solution is to comprehensively replace traditional silver paste with its self-developed nano-alloy material. This is not a simple material substitution but a simultaneous breakthrough across three fronts: material formulation, interface engineering, and manufacturing processes. According to the head of Longi's Central Research Institute, this project began preliminary research in 2019, was formally established in 2023, and after over two thousand days of development, is set for mass production by mid-2026.
The results are described as transformative. The resistance of ACM gridlines is only one-fifth to one-seventh that of traditional silver gridlines, while the conductive cross-sectional area is increased by 5 to 7 times. In an industry trend of minimizing gridlines, Longi has taken the opposite approach—its ACM gridlines are 5 to 7 times wider than conventional ones, reducing the risk of gridline breakage by approximately 80%. Experts note that the structural advantages of BC cell technology grant it greater potential for technological extension and innovation. Replacing silver paste is deemed an essential path for the industry's sustainable development. With stability challenges for perovskite technology persisting in the short term, the industry is concurrently exploring alternative top-cell materials like crystalline silicon tandems, potentially securing an 8 to 10-year development window for BC technology.
Redefining Industry Innovation Logic
Beyond silver scarcity, another critical issue is the reliability risk associated with traditional modules. Conventional modules contain over 400 meters of ribbon, connecting cells through more than 15,000 solder joints. Each joint is a stress concentration point, prone to micro-cracks or detachment under long-term thermal cycling and mechanical loads, leading to power degradation or even module failure. The ribbon interconnection method, used for two decades, has become a bottleneck for enhancing module reliability.
Longi's integrated conductive backsheet technology innovatively eliminates the traditional ribbon. This breakthrough is likened to the semiconductor industry's transition from discrete wiring to integrated circuit boards and is expected to have a profound impact on photovoltaics. Compared to traditional ribbons, this technology increases the current transmission cross-sectional area by over 85%, reduces cell stress by 60%, and lowers moisture vapor transmission rates by 90%. Additionally, the reflective properties of the metal foil can redirect long-wavelength light that passes through the silicon back into the cell for secondary absorption, boosting the power of a single module by an additional 3 to 5 watts.
The Significance of the "Technology Forest"
The ACM technology and the integrated conductive backsheet, along with the other innovations released, collectively form a complete "Technology Forest" ecosystem. This system spans from cell efficiency and module reliability to system-level intelligence. It is reported that when these technologies are combined, a standard-sized module (2382mm × 1134mm) could achieve a peak power output of up to 690W. Industry observers believe that the systematic implementation of Longi's "Technology Forest" concept is driving the sector's evolution from isolated point innovations toward a comprehensive, chain-wide reconstruction.
The founder and CTO of Longi Green Energy reflected that the products available today are the result of volume validation efforts initiated two to three years ago. The technologies announced today began their R&D journeys five to ten years ago. Meanwhile, the yet-unnamed technologies in Longi's laboratories are already being prepared for the next five to ten years. The true significance of the "Technology Forest," he concluded, lies not only in the fruits it bears today but, more importantly, in its inherent and enduring capacity for continuous growth.
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