Silver Vs Copper Solar Panels

Silver is an important part of the solar panel industry.

Silver vs copper solar panels.

The cost of copper on a per amp basis is significantly higher than that of aluminum. Attempts have been made to thrift some silver out of silver dependent solar panels and replace some silver with copper. Problem is the quality and durability of the cheaper copper thrift solar cells effectively means that silver s use in solar panels will endure. The lower weight of aluminum per lineal feet means it s easier to handle during installation.

Alternative and cheaper raw materials such as copper and. This fact makes potential silver substitutes like copper and nickel phosphide inferior to silver in solar panels. Though there are two possible solutions. Of course copper and silver have different chemical characteristics despite conducting about the same amount of electricity so the contacts aren t quite built the same way.

I expect solar panel use and therefore silver use to continue growing. There is also talk of substituting silver with copper in solar panel production. However as cru notes in the report this would result in the need for more less effective panels. Silver is used for collecting and conducting electrons generated to make useful current the two obvious choices for replacing silver are aluminium and copper.

The average size of a solar panel is about 1 8 square meters. The superior resistivity of silver increases the potential sunlight captured energy conducted and total power that is ultimately collected in a solar cell. It is estimated that it currently takes about 20 grams of silver to build an average solar panel. Silver is expensive producers are looking for alternative sources.

The cost of copper continues to rise while the price of aluminum remains relatively stable. The us based industry association finds the amount of silver loading may fall from 130 mg per cell in 2016 to approximately 65 mg by 2028. Given that there are 1 000 000. For the latter silver solar cell panels are more efficient at retrieving power from sunlight.