Solar is still a fairly small part of overall silver demand, but it's growing. It's forecast to make up 14% of consumption this year, up from around 5% in 2014, according to a report from The Silver Institute, an industry association. Much of the growth is coming from China, which is on track to install more panels this year than the entire total in the US.
Silver, in paste form, provides a conductive layer on the front and the back of silicon solar cells. But the industry is now beginning to make more efficient versions of cells that use a lot more of the metal, which is set to boost already-increasing consumption.
At the same time, supply is starting to look tight. It was flat last year, even as demand rose by nearly a fifth, figures (https://www.silverinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/World-Silver-Survey-2023.pdf ) from The Silver Institute show. This year, production is forecast to increase by 2% while industrial consumption climbs 4%.
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