The production of conductive silver paste on the front and back of photovoltaic cells requires silver consumption. According to the latest report of the International Silver Association, the silver content of each photovoltaic cell in 2009 was 400 mg, and it has dropped to 130 mg by 2016. It is estimated that by 2028 The silver content of the battery is reduced by half to 65 mg; and the output of each battery will increase from 4.7 watts in 2018 to 6.0 watts in 2030, meaning that the amount of silver required per watt of photovoltaic cells will drop, from 2017. 22 mg per watt per year fell to 10.5 mg per watt in 2030.
In 2017, the global production of photovoltaic cells reached 94.1 million ounces (2,926 tons). With the savings in the silver content of photovoltaic cells and the improvement of the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, experts believe that the consumption of silver in photovoltaic cells has reached its peak in 2017, and the annual consumption of photovoltaic cells The total amount of silver will remain at 70-80 million ounces in the next few years, and will gradually drop to 5,000-55 million ounces around 2025.
