DEC 17

I wonder if you can see through them and how it will impact daylighting (ie the need to use lights during the day.) Anna www.green-talk.com

They had a demo of these several years ago near where I live in Australia. Unfortunately, the demo went bad when the solar panels melted. Even more unfortunately, the investors pulled all funding for the project when the demo went bad and it has taken this long for someone to realise it was actually a good idea all along - all it needed was a little more research into how to make panels that didn't melt.

In one of his short stories ("Let There Be Light"), Robert Heinlein has his characters invent the "Douglas-Martin sunscreen" which works almost identical to the panels RSi has invented. The characters wind up making the technology open source because of vested interests trying to suppress it.

Needs more information!
Is the announcement that they are just beginning work on solar windows, or is production beginning also?
What wavelengths do the windows absorb? (if they just absorb visible light, then there's going to be a large reduction of sunlight coming in, and [as Anna pointed out] light will need to be used, but if it absorbs [rather than jut blocking] IR and UV, they can generate electricity, without effecting light quality.
And how economic are they? Is the solar-active material disbursed through the glass (making it expensive), or is the glass refractive-dye coated, so solar panels only need to surround the edges of the glass (significantly reducing costs)?

@Dave - wow, pretty interesting that the panels melted during a demo. What was their explanation?

I agree this is a great idea. Hopefully this will be a common product in the marketplace soon.

I spoke with my friend who's an electrical engineer in Switzerland. He fabricates solar panels for a living and did his thesis work on translucent panels. He called BS on this one.

I went to their website and its only an invitation to have drinks with them and give them money. Doesn't seem very scientific to me.

If you reduce anything by 100%, you have eliminated it entirely. It no longer exists. Any other result is less than 100% reduction. If their product is no based on math like this, it would be wise to avoid it entirely. That is reduce it 100%.

I'm glad someone finally came up with a way to do that.

With locally generated power there is no transmission loss! This counts big in more remote areas from power sources! Because Power companies have always developed on big scale, we have become wasteful in our usage of electricity! Advent of MOSFET, CMOS and LED technologies will be much appreciated once we get a better power distribution system than current 120 v ac 60 Hz horse shit 1800's crap! We are about to evolve, government subsidies in the status quo notwithstanding. Science and technology have great leaps to take and the (GRD) great republican depression will be the motor behind them! Proper and economically wise energy manipulation when erecting large buildings pays! Even windmills, with new super-magnet generators can show profit against highly unionized, status quo promoting, local utilities! Solar cell windows will be a welcome addition to the enterprising contractors set of cost reducing built in features for his buildings.

This is just excellent!! It's certainly going to make a huge difference, going forward, when it's possible to generate electricity locally. The knock on effect, of course, will be that each large tall office building can suddenly double as a "power plant", if it generates excess electricity

. . . and I;m glad to see that it was true. This is an awesome idea. My parents' 1950s home has BIG south-facing windows that have been providing passive solar energy before there was even such a term, and to be able to have them generate energy as well would be icing on the cake. we've always loved the windows, and installed second interior panels for insulation, unlike so many neighbors who simply closed them up, and now the payoff is even greater. I love it!

THe EMerge Alliance - An open industry association
promoting the rapid adoption of safe, low voltage DC power distribution and use in commercial building interiors - supports the effort to make locally generated DC power practical for use in commercial buildings. We are currently creating a standard that embraces this trend toward using on-site alternative energy, by providing a means of direct and more efficient connection between these new energy sources and interior electrical loads, like lighting and controls. The standard provides for the direct distribution of safe (class 2), low voltage 24VDC throughout the occupied building interior. This approach can add an additional 10-30% efficiency in the use of this locally generated power by eliminating the need to invert the generated DC to AC, just to have it later converted back to DC for use in devices. This provides sustainability-minded building owners on the leading edge of power technologies with a faster return on their investment in clean energy.
Our Alliance membership is broad-based in nature, comprised of entities such as architects, interior designers, consultants, engineering firms, government and code groups, academic and industry groups, product manufacturers, and building owners. For more information, or to find out how your organization can join the Alliance, please visit www.EMergeAlliance.org.

WE ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE. THESE WOULD BE GREAT FOR OUR SOUTH FLORIDA PROJECTS.