The photo is sourced Eneos
The windows were developed by Ubiquitous Energy, a company established in 2011 by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Michigan State University (MSU) with the aim of implementing solar technologies in household appliances and surfaces. In addition to photovoltaic coating, the windows are equipped with sensors tracking wind velocity, illumination and temperatures, as these data can make it easier to integrate transparent solar cells with conventional electricity sources. The innovation developed by Ubiquitous Energy (UE) was tested earlier at UE’s offices in Redwood City, California, as well as in the Michigan State University Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building and in an experimental energy-efficient building based in Boulder, Colorado.
The use of windows with built-in photovoltaic cells is a trend in the solar industry. For instance, architecture studio Kennon last year designed an eight-story office building, 550 Spencer, whose facade will comprise 1,182 thin-film photovoltaic panels with dimensions of 1,587 mm x 664 mm and a capacity of 110 watts to 140 watts. Each module (complete with glass) will weigh 17 kg and will have a 3.2 mm thickness, with a power conversion efficiency of 13.3% (the efficiency of standard solar panels exceeding 20%). The building, which will be opened in Melbourne in 2024, will make it possible to reduce CO2 emissions by 70 t per year.
In its turn, a startup named Photovoltaic Windows has developed a hot water unit consisting of a resistance heater and semi-transparent photovoltaic glass panes on the basis of cadmium telluride (CdTe), a binary compound of cadmium (a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal) and tellurium (a mildly toxic, silvery-white metalloid) widely used as a semiconductor. The capacity of the unit is inversely proportional to its transparency: a window with 10% transparency has the capacity of 76 watts while 90% transparency results in a capacity of 8 watts. The unit can be used at a balcony of a multi-unit residential building.
