Silver is found in virtually every electronic device. If it has an on/off button, it’s likely that silver is inside. Electronics & electrical demand industrial demand hit another record high, led by the electrical and electronics sector, which grew 20 percent to 445.1 Moz last year. This gain reflects silver’s essential and growing use in PV, which recorded a new high of 193.5 in 2023, increasing by a massive 64 percent over 2022’s figure of 118.1 Moz. Underpinning these overall gains was the limited scale of thrifting and substitution, as silver remains irreplaceable in many applications. At the same time, other green-related applications, including power grid construction and automotive electrification, also contributed to the gains.
Silver’s excellent electrical conductivity makes it a natural choice for everything from printed circuit boards to switches and TV screens.
Silver membrane switches, which require only a light touch, are used in buttons on televisions, telephones, microwave ovens, children’s toys and computer keyboards. These switches are highly reliable and last for millions of on/off cycles. Silver is also used in conventional switches like those used for controlling room lights.
For printed circuit boards, used in consumer items from mobile phones to computers, silver-based inks and films are applied to composite boards to create electrical pathways. Similarly, silver-based inks produce RFID tags (radio frequency identification) antennas used in hundreds of millions of products to prevent theft and allow easy inventory control. RFID’s are also used in prepaid toll road passes. Many plasma display panels are also fabricated using silver and silver’s use in the evolving 5G deployment is a plus for silver.
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