While traveling recently, customers seem to be a bit bored with the window industry. “What’s new?” they keep asking. They are not talking about new hardware items, better low-E coatings or a welder that requires no corner cleaning. What they are seeking is new technology that could revolutionize our industry.
Well, during a break in my travel, I saw a LinkedIn post by Tim Widner of Lippert Components showing the company’s first run at producing transparent organic photovoltaic (OPV) glass. Tim’s 4- inch-by-4-inch prototype that he is holding in the post is only 6.6 mm thick, generating 3 volts of continuous power, while allowing 27% visible light transmittance. Now that’s something to talk about, I thought!
So, what is OPV?
OPV cells, also known as organic solar cells, are a type of photovoltaic cell that uses organic electronics to convert solar energy into electricity. They are made from carbon-based materials and organic electronics, such as thin films of semiconducting organic molecules, polymers or oligomers. OPV cells are considered a recent advancement in solar cell technology and have several advantages over traditional crystalline solar cells.
The main difference between traditional solar cells and transparent OPV glass is that the latter converts mainly photons from the ultraviolet and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum into electricity, allowing visible wavelengths through to illuminate the interior of a building.
Traditional solar cells are opaque because they absorb this visible light, turning it into electricity, but transparent OPV converts the UV and infrared wavelengths into electricity while letting the visible part of the light spectrum to pass through, allowing you to see through the glass.
I caught up with Tim to pick his brain about this exciting technology. My main questions were centered around the power output, the necessary modifications to the window and the speed to market. Tim says that a typical 3-0 by 5-0 double hung window with 10 square feet of transparent OPV glass can generate up to 200 watts of power. Now bus bars need to be installed at the edge of the IG unit to channel the electricity. The electrical power can either be used in real time mode to run an appliance or stored in a battery system for use later. With every innovation there is an old saying that you cannot have your cake and eat it, too. In the case of transparent OPV, it is power generation vs visible light transmittance (VLT). Clear glass has a VLT in the 90s, versus low-E glass in the 70s or OPV glass in the range of 28-50%.
So far as speed to market is concerned, Tim is hoping to have this technology ready for use in RV skylights in a year or so and he is estimating that it is two years away from appearing in residential and commercial windows.
The company behind the electricity-generating liquid coatings and processes is Solar Windows Technology Inc. Their LiquidElectricity coatings generate electricity by harvesting light energy from natural sun, artificial light and low, shaded, or reflected light conditions. The technology involves application of ultra-thin layers of LiquidElectricity Coatings to rigid glass, and flexible glass and plastic surfaces, where they transform otherwise ordinary surfaces into electricity-generating, photovoltaic devices. Their stock (WNDW) is currently trading at $.25 per share. I figured it was a good time to buy some shares because I am betting that it will be a great investment.
Their mission is to “create SolarWindow products that produce extraordinary amounts of clean electricity, generation of financial rewards for their customers, and to help the environment with clean sources of electricity.”
If you are looking for suppliers of transparent PV glass, there is an OPV Search Tool available. Be sure to register first. You can type in criteria such as your objectives, which technologies you are seeking, your industry role, which product types interest you and which product attributes you require such as a minimum and maximum visible light transmittance. You get 10 free tokens and each search costs one.
So, there you have it: Transparent OPV technology is an exciting state-of-the-art technology that can revolutionize our industry and provide homeowners with additional benefits when investing in new windows. This could be a shot in the arm for the industry and might even convince lawmakers to bring back tax credits based upon energy savings of electricity-generating windows.
As Tim put it, “OPV technology is no different than cutting edge products in the pharmaceutical industry. The R&D involved takes time and is expensive, but if we put the money and firepower into it, then in the end it can revolutionize our industry!”