In solar power generation, a busbar is a strip of copper that conducts electricity within a module, panel or string of cells. Its size determines the maximum amount of current that can be safely carried and it can have a cross-sectional area as less as 0.8 mm2 . A thicker bus ribbon is soldered to the tabbing ribbon of each solar cell cluster to collect current - from within a cluster of solar cells - and deliver it to the bus ribbon, which then conducts it cumulatively - from all the solar cell clusters - to a junction box for final output. Tabbing ribbons can be considered to be like roads stretching across cells and the bus ribbons like the highways connecting them together.

Solar cells are electrically connected using tinned copper ribbon known as PV Interconnect Ribbon, Tabbing Strip, Tabbing Ribbon, and Stringing Ribbon. Normally, they are applied as parallel strips extending from the top of one cell to the bottom of the next, connecting positive and negative terminals in series, and soldered onto the paste applied to the TCO. Tabbing creates a cluster of solar cells and the tabbing ribbon collects current - from its cluster of solar cells - for delivery to the bus ribbon.