Cut your energy bills by almost a third with this see-through solar shortcut.
Scientists have designed a way for you to harvest electric energy from the same natural light that illuminates your home.
Solar energy no longer needs dedicated sunlight to provide electricity. By treating the windows in virtually any office or residential building, the latest solar-energy technology can provide quality shade while simultaneously collecting convertible energy.
Several companies, including Solaria and SolarWindow, offer alternative window treatments that can provide a supplementary power boost.
“If you look at the glass that’s manufactured worldwide today, 2 percent of it is used for solar panels; 80 percent of it is used in buildings,” said Solaria CEO Suvi Sharma, according to computerworld.com. “That’s the opportunity.”
Some methods, including Solaria’s, imbed microscopic strips of photovoltaic cells during glass production. Other methods, such as SolarWindow’s, apply “ulra-thin layers of liquid coatings … that produce ultra-small solar cells and form groups called ‘arrays.’ … The final product is generically referred to as an ‘organic photovoltaic solar array’ (OPV).”
In addition to after-market application, OPVs are made primarily of the two most abundant materials on the planet — hydrogen and carbon— only adding to the appeal.
For more information on costs and availability, visit solarwindow.com/technology/ or solaria.com