The rapid expansion of the solar industry necessitates understanding the material requirements for photovoltaic (PV) inverters and cabling by 2050 to meet the sub-2-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. This thesis formulates a material stock-to-flow model, utilising data
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The rapid expansion of the solar industry necessitates understanding the material requirements for photovoltaic (PV) inverters and cabling by 2050 to meet the sub-2-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement. This thesis formulates a material stock-to-flow model, utilising data from the ecoinvent database 3.10, to evaluate material needs under broad electrification (63 TW) and conservative (15.5 TW) scenarios. The study includes copper, aluminium, steel, silver, nickel, zinc, lead, gold, magnesium, manganese, titanium, and tantalum. Five scenarios were analysed: baseline, learning rate increase, lifetime improvement, recycling, and combined strategies. Key findings indicate that the combined scenario can reduce material demand by up to 68% and waste by up to 98%, with copper identified as a critical material due to its potential supply issues.