You think solar cells are somewhat boring like its black and the only place in your house that you can install it is on your roof? Well think again, as renewable energy development goes hand and hand with other gadgets like tablet and cellphone, solar cells are also evolving overtime.
Just like this four companies which are developing see-through solar window film which you can coat on your glass window cover and still leaving the glass window transparent.
New Energy Technologies is refining its technology for retrofitting conventional glass windows with a flexible plastic film. Scientists at the company have successfully sprayed electricity generating coatings onto lightweight polyethylene terephthalate plastics in its laboratory.
A proprietary process that the company calls SolarWindow was used to create the plastic solar films - at room temperature and at low pressure. It says its surface preparation effectively eliminates manufacturing hurdles that have prevented similar technologies from entering the marketplace.
Windows retrofitted with the film would generate energy from the sun’s visible light as well as artificial illumination, such as the fluorescent lighting.
2. Chin Hua
Chin Hua solar window is a small, slightly foggy pane that delivers 2W of light. The glass can apparently be manufactured with more or less haze, delivering greater or lesser solar power efficiency. This means you could install the most efficient windows on the side of your house facing your nosy neighbors, making you feel better about the environment and better about not bothering to put on pants in the morning.
What do you get when you cross a solar panel, a window and a set of venetian blinds?Pythagoras Solar’s idea for a window that simultaneously generates power and cuts air-conditioning needs.
Its photovoltaic cells have the dual responsibility of shading rooms from incoming light and then putting that blocked light to work producing electricity. Sandwiched horizontally between two panes of glass, the silicon PV cells’ power generation comes in at 13 watts per square foot.
4. EnSol AS
EnSol AS and University of Leicester are developing a thin-film-solar coating that might allow windows (and other building facades) to generate solar power. Their metal nano-particles will sit in a clear composite matrix, which is then applied to window glass.
The developers are aiming for the films to have an active sun ray capturing area of more than 16 square centimeters. The hope is the photovoltaic cells could reach 20 percent efficiency.
source: smartplanet.com
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