We might not have enough minerals for solar panels

​We'll need to be mining a dozen times as many metals to meet demand for wind turbines and solar panels by 2050.  
​Learn more here

Material demands will become hard to ignore if the world’s economies all simultaneously pursue similarly ambitious policies to displace the fossil fuels that currently supply over 80% of all energy. Learn more here

How much minerals are needed?

​Wind/solar/batteries require: 1,000% more steel, concrete and glass; 300% more copper; and 4,200%, 2,500%, 1,900%, and 700% more lithium, graphite, nickel, and rare earths, respectively, than fossil fuels, to produce the same amount of energy, according to IEA and others.

Where do these minerals come from?

The U.S. is dependent on imports for 100% of 17 renewables/EV-critical minerals; for 28 others, imports account for >50% of domestic demand.  Thus becoming dependent on China and others for the extraction and processing of the minerals needed to make solar, wind, & batteries

Look at the process just for polysilicon

Will the demand for these minerals go down in the future?

The information contained on the MoreAboutSolar website does not, and is not intended to, constituted legal advice; instead, all information, content and materials available on this site are for general informational and educational purposes only. The decision to use content on the MoreAboutSolar website is the responsibility of the reader.  This website contains links to other third-party websites.  Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser.  While MoreAboutSolar believes the information on its website is accurate, we encourage the reader to conduct their own research, as much information is subject to interpretation, and information may be updated, as new research, findings, materials, reports and studies become publicly available.​