A recent stockhead article looked at how solar and EV growth would affect silver demand. (Of interest as Ag is part of the resource for BML’s Sorby Hills site). However Sundrive a Sydney based startup are producing highly efficient copper based cells and looking to disrupt the looming cost increase by manufacturing copper based panels. An interesting interview in this Arena podcast. It illustrates the difficulties in long term planning for resource demand as technology is rapidly changing.
https://omny.fm/shows/rewired-1/smashing-solar-records-with-sundrive-s-vince-allen#sharing
The World Bank has forecast that by 2050 silver consumption in energy technologies could reach more than 50% more than current total demand (forecast at 1,033 million ounces in 2021) – More than 95% of this increase is due to an expansion of solar power generation.
Photovoltaic (PV) cells, which are the building blocks of solar panels, already account for approximately 100 million ounces of silver a year, about 10% of total demand, according to Silver Institute and Nasdaq research. This figure’s up from 55 million ounces in 2012.
Manufacturers have made efforts to reduce costs through innovations that require less silver. However due to it being the most efficient electricity-conducting metal, while not being able to catch fire easily and relatively light to put on roofs, these thrifting efforts are currently constrained.
They’re also likely to be offset by the forecast further upsurge in solar panel production, which is being encouraged by incentives from major governments including those in Australia and the US.