Provided are: a conductive base for forming a wiring pattern of a collector sheet for solar cells, which has good rust inhibiting properties and solderability without using an organic rust inhibitor that may harm a solar cell element; and a method for producing a collector sheet for solar cells, said method using the conductive base. A conductive base for forming a wiring pattern of a collector sheet for solar cells, which is a conductive base (30) wherein a zinc layer (320) composed of zinc is formed on the surface of a copper foil (310), is used. The conductive base for forming a wiring pattern of a collector sheet for solar cells is characterized in that the zinc layer (320) does not contain chromium and the amount of zinc therein is more than 20 mg/m2 but 40 mg/m2 or less.