Strategic metals are a conflict point as economies compete for scarce/rare materials. A smart way to deal with this is to adopt technology that uses common, or at least less rare materials yet get development to the next level. Thin film flexible solar cells and touch screens compete for a few vital materials like indium tin oxide (ITO), a transparent conductor. Progress is being made in Switzerland however, on a new generation of flexible solar panel development using less exotic materials. It's cheaper, frees up ITO for other stuff and in fact is yielding a BETTER panel that is more flexible than before.