Simply Not Enough Silver in the World to Support PV Growth

The Silver Supply Squeeze: How Solar Demand is Impacting Availability

Bloomberg recently published an article titled “The World’s Appetite for Solar Panels Is Squeezing Silver Supply”, highlighting the growing pressure on silver resources due to the expansion of the photovoltaic (PV) industry. Three key trends illustrate the challenges:

1. Rising Silver Demand for Solar Panels
   Demand for silver in PV applications is surging, driven by rapid growth in PV production capacity. For example, pv magazine USA reports that global PV manufacturing capacity is expected to reach 1 terawatt (TW) by 2024. As PV production continues to expand, the demand for silver will only increase.
2. Higher Efficiency PV Cells Require More Silver
   Advanced PV cells, which offer higher efficiency, require more silver for production.
3. Supply Struggling to Keep Up with Demand
   Unfortunately, current silver supply levels are insufficient to meet the growing demand, creating a supply shortage and potential price increases.

The PV industry has been working to reduce silver usage due to its cost and limited availability. According to the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV), despite these efforts, projections suggest that even in 2033, high-efficiency cells will still consume more silver than low-efficiency ones. For example, even low-efficiency PERC cells are expected to use about 7 mg of silver per watt.

Silver Usage Trends by Cell Type (ITRPV 2023)

With PV demand continuing to rise, this imbalance between supply and demand may lead to a global silver shortage and a subsequent price squeeze.

A Breakthrough: Copper as a Solution

Here’s some good news! ISC Konstanz’s Cu Zebra cells, which use copper-based metallization, represent a promising solution. These N-type IBC cells, with an efficiency exceeding 23%, require far less silver than the most efficient cells of the future. In fact, they use significantly less silver than even the lowest projected silver requirements for low-efficiency cells in 2033. These cells have passed all durability tests and are ready for mass production. In September 2023, ISC Konstanz and FuturaSun signed a contract to bring the Cu Zebra cells into production—an innovation that promises to revolutionize the PV industry with low-cost, high-efficiency “double poly” devices.

Copper vs. Silver: A Comparison

Switching from silver to copper for PV production brings several key benefits:

• Cost: Copper is about 100 times cheaper than silver, with silver priced at $700-850 per kilogram, while copper costs just $7-9 per kilogram.
• Electrical Conductivity: Both copper and silver are excellent conductors, but silver is slightly more conductive—about 5% more than copper.
• Environmental Impact: Copper has a far lower carbon footprint. Producing one kilogram of copper generates around 3.97 kg of CO2, compared to 155 kg of CO2 for silver.
• Toxicity: Copper is less toxic than silver in drinking water. The EPA’s allowable limit for copper is 1 mg/L, while for silver, it’s just 0.1 mg/L.
• Abundance: Copper is vastly more abundant than silver. Copper is found at 68 parts per million (ppm) in the Earth’s crust, while silver is only 0.08 ppm—making copper roughly 1000 times more abundant.

Circularity and Sustainability

An additional benefit of copper is that Copprint’s nano copper, used in the Cu Zebra cells, is made from 100% recycled copper, further improving the material’s sustainability and reducing its carbon footprint.

In conclusion, the shift from silver to copper in PV manufacturing not only alleviates the supply pressure on silver but also offers significant economic and environmental advantages. The future of solar technology looks brighter than ever!

Amazing PV. ☀️

See the detailed article at Mining.com / Bloomberg.