Silver is one of the best transmitters of electric current making it ideal for the solar world. Silver has minimal losses for electricity transmission so almost all of the energy collected is transferred to the storage system. If we can find a substance that is cheaper, easy to work with and just as good at transmission then it would replace silver in electrical devices.
Sorry but i feel you have swallowed all the best bits pumpers throw around and suggest you have a look into the facts of the matter. Now for you comment text "If we can find a substance that is cheaper, easy to work with and just as good at transmission " You are looking at the matter wrong. If they could find a substance that only worked 50% as well but was only 10% of the cost then i believe they would do just that. You do not need to be the best conductor to win the prize being half as good but 1/10 the price would suffice, or some combination of that.
Beside graphene there are other materials to look at like aluminium. The cost saving realized by switching from silver to aluminum are important. That's because silver, while highly conductive, is also high-cost. At today's prices, silver costs around $17.00 per troy ounce. The same quantity of aluminum costs $0.05, about 0.3% of the cost of silver. Even considering that it would be necessary to use twice as much aluminum as silver in order to have an equal amount of conductivity from cell to cell, the raw material cost of aluminum would still be just 0.6% of the direct material cost of using silver in the cell. https://www.printedelectronicsworld.com/articles/8333/solar-cell-that-eliminates-use-of-silver
I recently read that aluminium used to be even more expensive than gold because of its scarcity during the 19th century. This is interesting because aluminium is a dull looking metal and not aethetically appealing at all.
Copper's resistivity is not much more than silver. Not much at all. Better than gold. Just saying. The only reason they use gold in electronics is because it is inert.
Silver's a useful metal and makes exquisite functionless token coins but it's a very poor investment for the ordinary guy. More so the physical which we 'contrarians' got completely brainwashed about. Sometimes it's disastrous like the members here who were burglarized. I myself had some of mine ripped off - I suspect by tradesmen who were up in the roof where I once stored it. Then there's the cost of commercial storage if you go that way. It's big and heavy. If you're into the physical and also the stockmarket you'll likely be lured into some bullshit scam exploration or development company that has silver mineralisation in its tenements. - CCU, AYN remember? I physically hate silver and am nauseated when I have to touch it or look at it for some reason. I would obliterate it from the periodic table of elements if I ruled the world. I would execute anyone mentioning it with an anti-aircraft gun. I can't wait to get rid of it forever.
Sigh. Here we go again into the FUTURE. It probably has some silver wiring in the rocket. I wonder if the rocket has any $#!TC@!N, Etherium, Dodgiecoin, wiring in it. _JOHNLGALT.
Let me also Google that for you... https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/08/29/no-silver-no-solar/14756397/ "Silver is actually a primary ingredient in photovoltaic cells, and 90% of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, which are the most common solar cell, use a silver paste. What happens is that when sunlight hits the silicon cell it generates electrons. The silver used in the cell works as a conductor to collect these electrons in order to form a useful electric current. The silver then transports the electricity out of the cell so it can be used. Further, the conductive nature of silver enhances the reflection of the sunlight to improve the energy that's collected. Therefore, if it wasn't for silver solar wouldn't be as efficient in turning sunlight into energy." Summary ; Silver is both highly conductive and more importantly, it's very reflective
Silver's best conductor but copper's close behind. Silver's so cheap, that's why they use it, so as soon as it gets pricier there'll be an incentive to substitute with Cu or something - maybe something synthetic from carbon nanotechnology or something. Been reading about the peerless attributes of silver for 16 years - nothing happened that was worth a penny in the bank from physical, the stuff gets lost or stolen and meanwhile the would be miners evaporated. I wouldn't bend down to pick a silver oz off the ground, it's crap. .
Wow, you learn something new everyday! Good thing i've been investing in some silver then. Bought a bunch of silver eagles from Bullion Exchanges on friday during that huge dip, maybe that investment will eventually pay off! https://bullionexchanges.com/buy-silver/coins/us-silver-coins/american-silver-eagles
Look what happened in the US, fiat money was sound currency backed by gold, France looked through America's bluff and got half of the US gold stockpile back in trade for their US currency, Richard Nixon removed the gold standard because if everyone traded in their US dollars they would have no gold left and US debt would remain thus the economy would implode. Sound money does sound good but nobody can trust governments no more. Silver has more uses than just intrinsic value, it's used in a lot of electronics so there is more of a demand for silver. Yes the price in munipulated because the elite reap their rewards from the profits of all electronics made. I keep my faith in both gold and silver. But silver will reap more rewards in the long run.
Hook, line and sinker, I swallowed all of her lies Hook, line and sinker, she took me for a ride Just one look at that innocent face I didn't think twice, I just snapped up the bait Hook, line and sinker
It’s better for silver price to be stable for as long as possible so that stock can be depleted by non recoverable industrial use.
In a corrupt system when the mega rich want something ... they get it ... at whatever price they want ...
Yes, of course, this is why I'm taking a very long term approach. I'm washing my cast bullion bars with natural soap and purified water, sealing them up using 2 layers of airtight ziploc and silica gel. They are going into cold storage for 25 years. By then, I don't know if I will still be alive or my country will still exist.
I wonder if a reason for the Hunt brothers being prosecuted for cornering the silver market was for taking the price out of the cartel's hands ...