Solar Windows, the future of Energy?

Are Solar Windows the future of Energy? Solar power has been around for a while. Lots of research and development has went into harnessing the sun’s energy. Many commercial products have started to make their way to the market. Photovoltaic cells that sit on rooftops are one of the most popular forms of commercialize renewable energy technologies. The biggest obstacles for this type of technology is the large footprint needed to generate enough energy to produce a decent amount of power. I think Solar Windows can solve this problem.

Can Enough Power be Harnessed from Solar Windows to Power a City?

Solar Windows Technologies, Inc., has teamed up with the National Renewable Energy Laboratoryon developing a new transparent solar technology, named solar windows. As a result they have developed a breakthrough technology worth reading about!  SolarWindow™ products can be applied to all four sides of tall towers, generating electricity using natural, shaded low light, and even artificial light. Conventional crystalline solar cells simply do not work in shaded areas or perform under artificial light. Traditional solar technology also can only be mounted on very limited rooftop space of a tall tower. As a result, Solar Windows can outperform today’s solar by as much as 50X when modeled for a 50 story building!

How Does Solar Window Technology Work?

The biggest advantage is making use of all the glass along the sides of skyscrapers already in large cities.

The secret is the application of LiquidElectricity™ coatings to the thousands of windows on a tall tower. The coating process turns the entire building into a source of clean, renewable energy.

Traditional solar technology cannot do this as it would block the vision and light from inside the building. The small rooftop areas used by conventional systems does not provide enough room with other systems such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Another big advantage to Solar Windows Technologies is they perform even in poor and indirect sunlight. Traditional systems lack the ability to generate power when there is no sunlight available.

What’s Next?

There is a great need for cleaner and more efficient energy sources. Technology is rapidly advancing and we can be sure that many of the products we use will soon be powered by solar technology. Scientists from the University of California, Irvine stated the U.S. could reliably meet about 80% of its power demand with solar and wind generation. With breakthrough technologies like solar windows it may be possible in the future to increase that efficiency. Utilizing existing tall structures’ windows could provide enough clean renewable energy to significantly lower our carbon footprint!