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Good point. I guess PV manufacturing isn't very green.

by D9u 13y ago

diydsp 13y ago
On Saturday night, a hippie at a campfire told me solar panels are using 10% of the world's silver. I politely told him I was interested and I'd look it up... It turned out to be true! It's easily verifiable, but just to start you off, here's one link. [1] It isn't actually un-green to use lots of silver IMO, b/c solar cells will be around for a long time, but I think more people need to realize this fact b/c it means that certain solar dreams may not be financially possible. For example, I once believed in covering the square meterage necessary to produce all electricity needs in the U.S. (and everywhere else for that matter) with PV panels. I couldn't understand why everyone was taking their sweet time. I figured it was a matter of waiting for the tech to stabilize... but now I realize we're limited by the cost of silver! (which has recently had a huge burst [2] ) p.s. Multiple companies are working on ways to reduce the silver in PV panels, including nanosilver and replacing it with copper, but the real issue is efficiency. [1] http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/look-out-silver-here-comes-solar-demand http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/look-out-silver-here-comes-... [2] http://silverprice.org/silver-price-history.html http://silverprice.org/silver-price-history.html (see 5 and 10 year prices)
- tjansen 13y ago
  b/c solar cells will be around for a long time Are you sure about that? It's something I always wondered. The efficiency of today's solar panels is 15%-20%. According to a short google search, researchers have already shown panels with 44%. It seems certain that over time the efficiency of commercial panels is going up and prices are going down. If you have only limited space (e.g. your roof), doesn't it make economic sense to replace your old panels with more efficient and possibly also cheaper panels at some point?
  - DanBC 13y ago
    The old panels could go through some scheme to the roofs of poor people.

Good point. I guess PV manufacturing isn't very green.

by D9u 13y ago

Good point. I guess PV manufacturing isn't very green.

On Saturday night, a hippie at a campfire told me solar panels are using 10% of the world's silver. I politely told him I was interested and I'd look it up... It turned out to be true! It's easily verifiable, but just to start you off, here's one link. [1] It isn't actually un-green to use lots of silver IMO, b/c solar cells will be around for a long time, but I think more people need to realize this fact b/c it means that certain solar dreams may not be financially possible. For example, I once believed in covering the square meterage necessary to produce all electricity needs in the U.S. (and everywhere else for that matter) with PV panels. I couldn't understand why everyone was taking their sweet time. I figured it was a matter of waiting for the tech to stabilize... but now I realize we're limited by the cost of silver! (which has recently had a huge burst [2] ) p.s. Multiple companies are working on ways to reduce the silver in PV panels, including nanosilver and replacing it with copper, but the real issue is efficiency. [1] http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/look-out-silver-here-comes-solar-demand http://www.caseyresearch.com/cdd/look-out-silver-here-comes-... [2] http://silverprice.org/silver-price-history.html http://silverprice.org/silver-price-history.html (see 5 and 10 year prices)

tjansen 13y ago
b/c solar cells will be around for a long time Are you sure about that? It's something I always wondered. The efficiency of today's solar panels is 15%-20%. According to a short google search, researchers have already shown panels with 44%. It seems certain that over time the efficiency of commercial panels is going up and prices are going down. If you have only limited space (e.g. your roof), doesn't it make economic sense to replace your old panels with more efficient and possibly also cheaper panels at some point?
- DanBC 13y ago
  The old panels could go through some scheme to the roofs of poor people.