One of the biggest reasons for silver demand increasing so much in recent years is solar panels. Production of silver mining + recycling = about 1 billion oz per year. Solar panel industry consumes about 25% of that total, and growing fast. As the solar industry moves to newer technologies, those more advanced solar panels actually increase their solar consumption per W (see image). PERC → TOPCon → HJT increases silver intensity There has been a great deal of speculation about copper substitution in the solar industry. So far it hasn't happened in any significant amounts and it would take years to switch factories over to using copper instead of silver. If silver were to reach prices of $125 per oz or higher, it is estimated that solar manufacturers would more seriously start moving to copper. We would begin to see demand destruction in the consumption of silver. Credit: @abcampbell for image.(Wall Street Mav)