Solar panels are commonplaces these days, and solar windows are starting to be as well. A Japanese company is hopping on the solar window bandwagon with built-in photovoltaic cells in windowpanes.

Tokyo-based company Nihon Telecommunication System Inc. has produced windowpanes that it claims will produce enough electricity to power a computer and recharge a cell phone. The power will be tapped through a USB port. When there’s enough sunlight, the windowpanes are supposed to generate up to 70 watts of electricity per square meter of glass. That’s an efficiency of about 7% to 8% - fairly low on the PV efficiency scale, but still nothing to sneer at, especially for a newer technology. The 10.5 mm glass will stop 90% of sunlight filtering in, which the company says will help reduce air conditioning costs.

At These Levels has a review of the windows in a tour of a Zero Emissions House, but it was a rainy day so there wasn’t any chance to see how well it worked. The company says it expects to sell 10,000 windowpanes, which cost a pricey $1,900 per square meter in average...so they're more novelty tech than anything practical. So far, at least.

Via: GoodCleanTech, Gizmag, Crunchgear

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