Gauzy has established itself as a global leader in this technology, offering cutting-edge solutions that combine privacy, energy efficiency, and design flexibility. Smart PDLC film works by utilizing liquid crystal technology embedded within a thin film. This allows glass to switch between transparent and opaque states instantly. Gauzy’s advanced manufacturing ensures consistent performance and reliability, making their products suitable for a wide range of applications.
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These clear windows can secretly produce solar power
Cholesteric liquid crystal coatings enable transparent, unidirectional solar concentrators compatible with modern windows.
A research team led by Nanjing University has introduced a transparent, colorless, and unidirectional solar concentrator that can be directly coated onto standard window glass. Utilizing cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) multilayers with submicron lateral periodicities, this diffractive-type solar concentrator (CUSC) selectively guides sunlight toward the edge of the window where photovoltaic cells are installed. The study appears in PhotoniX.
Unlike conventional luminescent or scattering-based concentrators, which often suffer from visual distortion, low efficiency, and poor scalability, the new CUSC achieves broadband polarization-selective diffraction and waveguiding without compromising clarity. The device maintains a high average visible transmittance (64.2%) and color rendering index (91.3), enabling clean energy generation without altering the appearance of the window.
Carbon nanotube 'smart windows' offer energy savings by modulating near-infrared light transmission
Half of the sun's radiant energy falls outside of the visible spectrum. On a cold day, this extra infrared light provides additional warmth to residential and commercial buildings. On a warm day, it leads to unwanted heating that must be dealt with through energy-intensive climate control methods such as air-conditioning.
Visibly transparent "smart windows" that can modulate the transmission of near-infrared light offer one potential cost- and energy-saving measure for modern infrastructure.
To work toward solving this technological challenge, a multidisciplinary team of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) developed a new type of electrically controlled, near-infrared smart window that can cut near-infrared light transmission by almost 50%. Their secret ingredient? Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes—tiny, tube-shaped structures made from carbon atoms that are thousands of times thinner than a human hair. The research was published in Nano Letters.
Multispectral smart window: A step toward healthier indoor environments
Windows, the vital conduits between indoor spaces and the external environment, also serve as primary entry points for harmful light waves and electromagnetic (EM) waves. However, managing light transmission and scattering typically requires different material systems and devices.
Additionally, a critical aspect often overlooked in smart window technology is EM modulation. Therefore, windows capable of visible light regulation and EM shielding are becoming an urgent necessity.
In a new paper titled "Multispectral smart window: Dynamic light modulation and electromagnetic microwave shielding," published in Light: Science & Applications, a team of scientists led by Professor Jiaqi Zhu from Infrared Films and Crystal introduces an innovative multispectral smart window capable of regulating visible light while simultaneously blocking microwave signals.
Advances in electrochromic coatings may bring us closer to environmentally friendly ways to keep inside spaces cool. Like eyeglasses that da
Advances in electrochromic coatings may bring us closer to environmentally friendly ways to keep inside spaces cool. Like eyeglasses that darken to provide sun protection, the optical properties of these transparent films can be tuned with electricity to block out solar heat and light. Now, researchers in ACS Energy Letters report demonstrating a new electrochromic film design based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that quickly and reliably switch from transparent to glare-diminishing green to thermal-insulating red.
Hongbo Xu and colleagues used MOFs in their electrochromic film because of the crystalline substances' abilities to form thin films with pore sizes that can be customized by changing the length of the organic ligand that binds to the metal ion. These features enable improved current flow, more precise control over colors and durability. In demonstrations, Xu's MOF electrochromic film took 2 seconds to switch from colorless to green with an electric potential of 0.8 volts, and 2 seconds to switch to dark red with 1.6 V. The film maintained the green or red color for 40 hours when the potential dropped, unless a reverse voltage was applied to return the film to its transparent state. The film also performed reliably through 4,500 cycles of switching from colored to clear. With further optimization, the researchers say their tunable coatings could be used in smart windows that regulate indoor temperatures, as well as in smaller scale intelligent optical devices and sensors.
Off the roof: The quest to harness energy from facades
- By Jack Mcgovan , Horizon -
In social housing on the outskirts of the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, Renske Crone was delighted with an experiment in 2022 involving her apartment: it was outfitted with panels that produced energy from the Sun.
But her new equipment was distinctly different from the solar panels – also known as photovoltaic modules – visible on countless rooftops in Europe and elsewhere. Instead of producing electricity, as photovoltaic modules do, Crone’s panels supplied thermal energy and were installed on the facade of the building.
Thermal thrill
The grey panels, coated with aluminium and resembling laminate flooring, took up 15 square metres. As a result of the test, Crone’s home and water got heated with renewable power instead of polluting natural gas – even on cloudy days – and energy bills fell.
The ‘house is energy-positive, free from gas, with a net-zero energy bill,’ said Crone, who has since moved to another home. ‘Who doesn’t want that?’
The new energy technology emerged from a research project that received EU funding to make use of all buildings’ external surfaces rather than just rooftops to generate power. Called Envision, the project ran for five years through September 2022.
The initiative reflects stepped-up EU efforts to reduce buildings’ emissions of greenhouse gases as part of the fight against climate change. Buildings account for around 36% of emissions in Europe and are part of an EU renovation wave.
In the EU, roughly half of buildings’ facades are unused.
Infrared band
The bands of radiation that reach the Earth’s surface from the Sun include visible light, infrared and ultraviolet.
Whereas regular solar panels make use of visible light, those on Crone’s home relied on the infrared spectrum and didn’t require the external wall to be orientated in any particular direction. Visible light constitutes roughly 43% of solar radiation while infrared accounts for 50%.
Retrofitting homes so they use both visible light and infrared radiation promises big advances in the harnessing of energy from the Sun. Any external walls can be retrofitted with the Envision technology.
‘With our panels and photovoltaic cells on the roof, you can have sufficient energy to make the house energy-positive,’ said Bart Erich, a research associate in applied physics at Eindhoven University of Technology.
One of the Envision leaders, he said the total surface area of building facades in Europe is roughly the same as that of roofs.
Tangible progress
Using facades to absorb energy from the Sun would bolster Europe’s already-expanding solar thermal industry, which grew 12% in 2022.
The thermal panels are coupled to a heat pump. In the case of social housing, where space is relatively limited, making room for the heat pump can involve building a shed outside – as was the case for Crone.
With the further addition of a battery that retains heat, the thermal energy can be stored when there’s an excess.
The prices of such facades range from €150 to €500 per square metre, depending on the type, according to Erich, who said the lifespan is typically 30 years and the return on investment seven to 10 years.
During Envision, the researchers conducted laboratory research, built a site at Eindhoven University of Technology to test the idea and ran demonstrations at homes including Crone’s.
In 2022, the team was a finalist in the innovation category of the European Sustainable Energy Awards, which recognise projects and people advancing the transition to cleaner energy.
Since Envision ended, the technology has gathered momentum. Erich is the chief technology officer of a spinoff company called Calosol that is commercialising the panels.
IKEA-style DIY
Calosol aims eventually to build 1 200 square metres of panels, a jump from the 250 square metres produced during Envision. In Crone’s apartment, the 15 square metres were sufficient to meet all her year-round heating needs, according to Erich.
‘In total, the panels produce about the same amount of energy as – or a little bit more than – the house actually uses,’ he said.
Because putting the panels in place is currently a complex undertaking, current research is also seeking to make that step a lot easier. The ultimate goal is to make installation akin to IKEA furniture, according to Erich.
‘That’s where we are – still struggling to get the installations to the point where everybody can install them,’ he said.
Solar windows
To help buildings extract every possible bit of energy from the Sun, other EU-funded researchers are exploring the option of transparent solar windows to produce electricity.
This project, called CITYSOLAR, began in December 2020 and is scheduled to run through April 2024.
CITYSOLAR aims to deploy photovoltaic technologies that absorb radiation in both the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum. The researchers are trying to minimise the absorption of visible light because windows need to transmit it to the building’s interior and visible light causes panels to take on colour.
But because infrared and ultraviolet light are less efficient at generating electrical energy, a degree of visible light is useful even for solar windows. The trick for the CITYSOLAR researchers is to find the right mix of efficiency, transparency and colour.
Aldo Di Carlo, a professor of nanoelectronics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata who leads the project, cites a greenhouse as an example of where the technology could be especially useful.
Plants mainly need visible light in the red part of the colour spectrum to grow but can do without most other colours. As a result, semi-transparent photovoltaic cells with a red tinge could absorb energy from the Sun while allowing the red visible light through so plants thrive.
Beyond the lab
So far, the technology has been tested only in the lab. A prototype is due to be created in early 2024 at South Denmark University.
The prototype will play a central role in testing the technology for further development on the way to possible eventual commercialisation.
In the longer term, the CITYSOLAR researchers want to make zero-energy buildings as much a reality as possible. That requires the full-scale retrofitting of transparent or semi-transparent surfaces with the technology being developed.
For residential buildings, a further challenge will be figuring out the right efficiency-to-transparency ratio – a task that will require yet more research.
‘We need to use our best science to combat climate change and that means researching technologies like transparent solar cells,’ Di Carlo said.
Research in this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don’t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.
This post Off the roof: the quest to harness energy from facades was originally published on Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine | European Commission.
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Researchers have demonstrated a material for next generation dynamic windows, which would allow building occupants to switch their windows between three modes: transparent, or "normal" windows; windows that block infrared light, helping to keep a building cool; and tinted windows that control glare while maintaining the view.
Dynamic windows based on electrochromism—meaning their opacity changes in response to electric stimulus—are not a new concept. But, to this point, most dynamic windows were either clear or dark.
"Our work demonstrates that there are more options available," says Veronica Augustyn, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Jake and Jennifer Hooks Distinguished Scholar in Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University. "Specifically, we've shown that you can allow light to pass through the windows while still helping to keep buildings cooler and thus more energy efficient."
Indian Researchers develops new tech to make smart windows a reality
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