Tool
What would it take?
Pick a technology and a quantity. The calculator multiplies out the material bill and puts each total next to the entire world’s annual production of that material — which is usually the number that changes how the answer feels.
10,000,000 × Crystalline Silicon Solar Module — The standard solar panel: silicon wafers, silver contact paste, glass and an aluminium frame.
Quantities are per MW of capacity indicative range tonnes of contained material
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Material | Per unit | Total, low | Total, high | World annual production | Share of a year’s supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aluminium | 5,000–9,000 kg | 50.00 million t | 90.00 million t | 74.00 million tSmelter production, 2025 | 121.6% |
| Copper | 2,000–4,000 kg | 20.00 million t | 40.00 million t | 23.00 million tMine production, 2025 | 173.9% |
| Silicon | 2,500–4,000 kg | 25.00 million t | 40.00 million t | 5.00 million tFerrosilicon, 2025 | 800.0% |
| Soda Ash | 1,000–2,500 kg | 10.00 million t | 25.00 million t | 19.00 million tMine production: natural, rounded, 2025 | 131.6% |
| Silver Falling with every generation of cell design. | 8.00–20.00 kg | 80,000 t | 200,000 t | 26,000 tMine production, 2025 | 769.2% |
Intensity ranges are indicative, compiled from published technology studies and chemistry — not a manufacturer specification. World production is USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, 2025 (estimated), converted to tonnes of the same basis where the source reports thousands of tonnes or kilograms · source ↗. This is an educational order-of-magnitude tool. It is not a procurement estimate and must not be used as one.