Among the investors are Anderson Corporation, an international manufacturer of winds and doors, ENFOS, Japan’s largest oil and gas corporation, Safar Partners, a U.S. venture company that invests in energy and clean technology projects, Hostpus, an Australian superannuation fund in the tourism and other industries, Red Cedar Ventures, a U.S. start-up accelerator, and Riverhorse Investments, a company specialised in investments in rapidly growing firms.
Ubiquitous Energy was founded in 2011 by a group of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Michigan State University with the aim of making solar technology a part of domestic appliances, equipment and surfaces. Over the course of 10 years, the company has secured $70 million in funding (including $30 million in 2021).
Last year, the company tested the technology of transparent solar panels at the industrial site of Japan glass manufacturer Nippon Sheet Glass Co. and at the MSU campus and in an office building in Boulder, Colorado.
Mass production of its panels would lead to a reduction of in the carbon footprint in both the residential and office sectors responsible for 40 % of world-wide emissions.
Introducing transparent panels would also spur the creation of a new sub-sector in solar energy – in addition to photovoltaic power stations and rooftop solar panels.
Output from photovoltaic power stations in the United States in 2020 totalled 89.2 gigawatt hours (GWh), while the figure from rooftop panels was 41.6 GWh, according to data from the Energy Information Agency of the U.S. Department of Energy.
