Invisible Solar Panels Will Replace Glass

“Invisible” Solar Panels are on the Way - Window gazers of the future may soon find themselves looking right through an energy-producing transparent glass solar panel, if the folks at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory are on the right track. Working with the company New Energy Technologies, Inc., the lab has produced a transparent photovoltaic module that is 14 times bigger than its last attempt.

Windows that double as solar panels:

At 170 square centimeters (about 26 square inches), the new module is about the size of a small window. If the technology can be ramped up to a more useful scale, practically any glass window could double as a clean energy generator, with the embedded photovoltaic cell all but invisible. The largest device of its kind produced at NREL, the new module represents a breakthrough in organic photovoltaic cell (OPV) technology according to a statement by Dr. David S. Ginley of NREL, who said that integrating solar technology into window glass represents a “promising avenue for OPV deployment.”

Organic photovoltaic technology set to rise:

In contrast to conventional solar technology based on silicon, OPV cells can be made from a variety of inexpensive polymers (plastics), which can be produced in liquid form and sprayed onto a substrate, or applied using a high volume, inexpensive roll-to-roll manufacturing process. The two sticking main sticking points so far have been increasing the size of the solar module, and increasing its efficiency. The solar energy conversion efficiency of other solar technologies has been trending up in the double digits but OPV efficiency is currently stuck around eight percent according to NREL.

Though OPV is starting from a lowly place on the conversion efficiency totem pole, its potential for building-integrated usage puts it in a strong position in the solar industry. The relatively low conversion rate could be counterbalanced by the potential for extremely low installation costs compared to other solar technologies. See-through glass solar panels could simply be substituted for conventional window glass at a marginal increase in cost, rather than being treated as an expensive add-on.

A place in the sun(shot) for OPV:

Lowering the overall installed cost of solar power is a primary goal of President Obama’s SunShot Initiative, which aims to make solar energy compete on price against fossil fuels within the next few years. That partly explains why NREL is so gung-ho on OPV technology despite its low efficiency. It should be noted, though, that the focus on OPV predates the Obama Administration. OPV was part of the Solar America initiative under the Bush Administration. Despite a conversion efficiency of only five percent at the time, a 2007 Department of Energy draft report identified some key benefits of developing OPV technology, including “the inherent low materials cost and low-energy, high-throughput processing technologies, and because of the huge variety of possible organic systems.”

OPV and American-made energy:

Another aspect of NREL’s interest in OPV has to do with reliability and stability of price and supply, which are key elements in President Obama’s broader “American-made energy” pitch. The use of a variety of polymers would enable the U.S. solar industry to overcome a major obstacle that derives from reliance on silicon-based solar technology, and that is the price fluctuation of a single key material – silicon – on the open market.

According to a report last week in Bloomberg News, China, which it describes as the “biggest supplier to solar-panel manufacturers worldwide,” has shut down almost a third of its polysilicon production after prices fell by 60 percent, a move that is expected to result in a quick return to higher prices. However, it’s too soon to say good-bye to silicon forever. NREL is also working with another small company, Innovalight, to develop solar modules based on a low cost, nano-engineered spray-on liquid silicon process.

Also check out:

New Thin Film Material Promises Power Generating Windows.

New Transparent Thin Film Solar Material Could Turn Windows into Solar Power Generators.

Government Scientists Put See-Through Solar Windows on the Fast Track.

Top 10 Solar Technologies to Watch Out For.

Solar Power Graphs to Make You Smile.

Smog Eating Panels & 150 Foot Lifts

Alcoa, Toto unveil green building panels that eat smog: A skyscraper that devours the smog around it? Now that’s what I call a smart idea. Alcoa on Monday launched a coil-coated architectural panel that helps clean itself and the air around it. Called “Reynobond with EcoClean,” the product is a partnership between the aluminum giant and design-forward Japanese manufacturer Toto. Alcoa says the panels reduce maintenance costs and helps decompose smog and other pollutants in the air that cling to building surfaces, from dirt to diesel fumes.

Architectural panels that help clean themselves and the air around them.

How effective is the technology? About 10,000 square feet of the panels can clean the air as well as 80 medium-sized deciduous trees, Alcoa says. It’s enough to offset four cars each day. You can imagine the applications of this green building technology: Times Square would glimmer a little brighter. Ultra-high skyscrapers wouldn’t need to hire daring window cleaners to keep floor-to-ceiling windows transparent. And, at scale, a smog-choked Los Angeles could breathe a bit easier. At the core of the concept is a proprietary process that takes Toto’s patented Hydrotect technology — which helps keep microbes at bay on that company’s toilets, bath tubs and other bathroom fixtures — and applies it to a hydrophilic titanium dioxide coating on the pre-painted aluminum surface of a Reynobond panel.

The result: an aluminum panel that, in the presence of sunlight, acts as a catalyst to break down organic pollutants on its surface and in the air around it. Once broken down, rainwater simply rinses them away.

High Access directors Peter Metcalfe and Neil Bethell.

High Access invests £250,000 in new kit: A business that provides high level cleaning and maintenance services to the commercial property sector is investing £250,000 in equipment as it prepares for further growth. Manchester-based High Access was established 10 years ago as a rope-access window cleaning company, later moving into full maintenance services which include pointing, re-glazing and cladding replacement. Clients include Jones Lang La Salle, Living City and Savills, which has extended a three-year contract with High Access covering more than 50 commercial properties.

Niel Bethell, founding and managing director of High Access, said the company has bought a £125,000 Ruthmann truck mounted platform which will reach heights of 27 metres and will this month take delivery of a new £250,000 truck which will reach 46 metres. “It will be the largest truck mounted platform in Manchester,” said Niel. “For the business it's a huge investment but it will also mean that we will be able to win new clients as we will be able to tackle buildings at a higher reach.

“Over the last five years we have invested heavily in new plant and equipment and we now have 20 vehicles. “The advantage to having our own fleet is that we are able to keep our costs down and stay ahead in the market, as we're not reliant on hiring equipment. “We've grown steadily year-on-year and that is down to retaining clients and not moving into the new-build property sector, which was affected heavily during the recession.”

The business, which employs 30 staff, has recently extended its warehouse and office facilities at a cost of £30,000 and will launch a fleet hire division, HighAccessHire, this month. Niel said: “We don't use all our fleet at once, so we decided to hire them out instead.” He added the business is on track to reach revenues of £2m this year, up from £1.6m in 2010.

Vertical Solar Farm Means High-Rise Window Cleaners With WFP's

Chicago’s Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), North America’s tallest building, is already an icon in the city. But it could soon be an icon for solar energy use in cities? A new project will take advantage of the tower’s vertical surface area by adding up to 2 MW of solar glass panels - equivalent to a 10 acre solar field - on the south side of the building’s 56th floor. This pilot project will use photovoltaic glass units developed by Pythagoras Solar. The new windows, dubbed high power density photovoltaic glass units (PVGU), are a clever hybrid technology that lays typical monocrystalline silicon solar cell horizontally between two layers of glass to form an individual tile. An internal plastic reflective prism directs angled sunlight onto the solar cells but allows diffuse daylight and horizontal light through. Think of it as a louvered shade which allows for views but cuts out the harsh direct sun.

If the project is successful, it could lead the way to other similar projects in cities. It’s a great way for cities to harvest energy without using up precious space in the city or limited rooftop space. The product is also a potential breakthrough in energy efficiency in glass towers, where solar heat gain is the bane of energy-efficient design.

Imagine cities full of power-generating skyscrapers!

Pythagoras Solves Solar Energy Equation at Sears Tower: A solar window that potentially turns any skyscraper into a into massive power producer has just installed a pilot test in Chicago, at the landmark Sears Tower, according to Jetson Green. If the pilot goes well, the Sears Tower could end with a 2 MW solar power station, distributed vertically among its many windows.

Israel’s revolutionary Pythagoras makes window-integrated solar that really is a game changer. Their product is a solar window that is virtually as transparent as a normal window – yet it produces power on a square foot basis, that matches that of a normal solar panel. By contrast, most BIPV (building integrated solar panels) are the very inefficient thin film panels that take twice the space to make the same power. Pythagoras uses traditional PV integrated into a glass unit (PVGU) in such a way that the window still lets light in, but it just has a linear texture created by the power producing strips.

Their PVGU is priced to deliver a 5-year return on investment – a calculation that includes both its solar power generation, and also the energy efficiency savings – it reduces building heating and cooling costs because it blocks direct solar radiation making it the ideal day-lighting option.

The south side of the 56th floor of the Willis Tower is being fitted with solar windows.

Chicago’s Willis Tower to get solar windows: Chicago's Willis Tower, formerly known as Sears Tower, was the world's tallest building from 1974 to 1998 and remains the tallest building in the U.S. to this day. Its 1451-foot (442 m) height adds up to enough window area to keep a window washer busy for life, or space for enough solar panels to be comparable to a 10 acre solar power plant. As part of a pilot project, the south facing windows of the 56th floor of the Willis Tower will be replaced with Pythagoras Solar's transparent solar windows which cut down on heat gain – and therefore cooling costs – as well as harnessing energy from the sun.

While the image that comes to mind when one thinks of solar power plants is probably one of rows upon rows of panels covering large areas of desert, replacing the windows of skyscrapers with solar windows gives cities with limited free space the opportunity to create vertical solar power plants. Pythagorus Solar's solar windows, which the company calls photovoltaic glass units (PGUs), are rectangular box-shaped units that allow diffused light to pass through, but use a prism to reflect sunlight down onto a horizontal PV cell along the bottom of the unit to generate the same amount of energy as standard rooftop-mounted solar cells.

"We are excited to launch this pilot with Pythagoras Solar's leading-edge solar window solutions as a test for not only the energy savings that can be achieved, but the potential they represent to actually generate power through the sun," said John Huston, Executive Vice President of American Landmark Properties, one of the ownership partners of Willis Tower.

If the pilot project proves successful, Pythagoras Solar's PGU's could be expanded beyond the 56th floor to cover enough surface area to provide over two megawatts of solar power.