The Solar Silver Meltdown

Solar energy is increasingly popular and the world sees an increase in the use of silver in the production of solar cell panels. The photovoltaic industry need for silver is driven by an increase in global solar installations and which have risen 11 percent.

Increasing demand
Silver demand from the photovoltaic sector has risen to a record high of 83.3 million ounces, an increase from 77.6 million ounces (2 415 ton) in 2015. The growth for Chinese solar panel installations were strong and China’s demand for silver is expected to grow in years to come. Mine production of silver for 2015 was 886,7 million ounces and this means that the photovoltaic industry consumes close to 10 percent of the world-output. A percentage that will increase as demand for green energy grows. Solar Industry report

Inexpensive Silver
The price of silver is still artificially linked to the price of gold and not to the market mechanism of supplies and demand. The next industrial expansions, and the need for conductive metal in solar panels, will surly lead to a real price increase instead of a to-days speculative price fixing by greedy banks.  Read about the upcomming shortnes of supply in The Silver Solar Burnout