Solar power is no doubt going to be the future of energy in Australia, with our abundance of sunlight giving off so much potential across the entire country. But could solar windows be part of the energy transition?
This morning, CNET ran a great article on solar windows being a great and invisible alternative to solar panels, with Ubiquitous Energy offered as an example. Ubiquitous Energy grew out of MIT to pursue this very technology: solar panels that were transparent and that could be installed into a home or building, and operate similarly to the solar panels on your roof.
While letting through visible photons, the solar-powered glass captures invisible light sources like ultraviolet and infrared waves and converts them to energy, similar to a standard solar panel (but less powerful).
And it’s a terrific idea, especially for glass-heavy apartment complexes and office buildings in cities. Gizmodo ran an article on the topic about nine years ago, about tinted glass producing cheap power. So it’s not a new idea, but it is one that’s still being chipped away at.
But how far off might we be with the technology?
As CNET explores in its article (and its podcast), Ubiquitous Energy is still in the pilot testing stages for its tech. At this stage, 12 pilot installations have been installed, with panels sized at about 14-inches by 20-inches. Installation locations include Michigan State University and its headquarters in California. It also has plans to commercialise the tech through Anderson Windows, with a plan to begin production in 2024.
Meanwhile, there are other companies at play. Over here in Australia, ClearVue PV has been testing its solar glazing technology, having installed its tech at Skylab in Singapore last year. In October, ClearVue moved into the residential market with its first order to supply luxury Canberra residences with solar-powered window technology. Work is expected to be completed by the end of February 2023.
ClearVue’s panels can generate about 30 Wp of electric power using a square window size of 1.44 metres squared. The company has more information on energy generation capability on its website.
So, how far off are we? We might see solar windows widely adopted within the next five years or so, but it remains to be seen how popular these things could potentially be in a domestic sense compared to normal solar panels.
So it’s exciting tech absolutely, but we’ll need to wait for it to make its way to the consumer market in a serviceable capacity (outside of luxury residences, that is).