Loading ...Trends In Silver Demand By The Solar Photovoltaic Industry
Silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. This property of silver makes it an important constituent of solar cells. It is used in the form of silver paste, which is used to conduct electricity out of solar cells. Approximately 20 grams of silver are used in each crystalline silicon solar panel, which accounts for around 85% of the total market. Roughly 80 metric tons of silver or approximately 2.8 million ounces of silver areneeded to generate approximately 1 Gigawatt of solar power.
Growth in Installed Solar PV Capacity
Globally, installed solar capacity stood at 139 GW at the end of 2013. Installed solar capacity has risen exponentially from a paltry 1.3 GW in 2000. Most of this growth in installed capacity in the past has come from Europe, particularly Germany, with favorable government policies facilitating the incorporation of a greater share of renewable energy into the country’s energy mix. Europe accounted for around 75% of global installed solar PV capacity in 2010. However, the pace of new installed capacity in Europe is expected slow down due to a reduction in incentives for PV installations in some major markets, such as Germany. read more