Window doubles as solar panel

By | May 21, 2010, 1:30pm PDT

Summary: New technology from Pythagoras Solar has resulted in the development of what the company is calling the industry’s “first energy efficient, transparent and high power-density photovoltaic glass unit. The new product could show up in curtain walls (like the one shown below), skylights or windows by the second half of 2010. The company has signed deals [...]

New technology from Pythagoras Solar has resulted in the development of what the company is calling the industry’s “first energy efficient, transparent and high power-density photovoltaic glass unit. The new product could show up in curtain walls (like the one shown below), skylights or windows by the second half of 2010.

The company has signed deals with manufacturers including Arkema, China Sunergy and Flextronics in order to get the new technology to market as quickly as possible.

Gonen Fink, co-founder and CEO of Phythagoras Sola, says the new material should help construction companies bridge the gap between materials that are energy efficient and aesthetically appealing. The material combines insulating qualities, shading and lighting benefits AND, as implied, solar generation features. So, it both blocks the sun to keep it cool inside and captures sunlight to create solar energy. The video below talks about how the technology works:

watch?v=D9pTVyY9OZw

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Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues.

Disclosure

Heather Clancy

Writing publicly about what the high-tech industry is actually doing to help itself and the world get greener or more sustainable is one way I figure I can contribute more meaningfully to said effort. I am also a big OMG-kind-of-fan of smart leadership, which is why the goodly folks who publish this blog let me go on about this topic and why I am always on the hunt for forward-looking business management ideas.

My daily writing is focused on looking for topics for my blogs, GreenTech Pastures and Business Brains. I also write often about emerging technology trends such as mobile computing, unified communications and cloud computing. Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where a speaking engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.

My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and the topics that I am covering in my blog.

Biography

Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues. Her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. In a past corporate life, Heather was editor of Computer Reseller News, where she was a featured speaker about everything from software as a service to IT security to mobile computing.

Heather started her journalism life as a business writer with United Press International in New York. She holds a B.A. in English literature from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and has a thing for Lewis Carroll.

Talkback Most Recent of 4 Talkback(s)

  • RE: Window doubles as solar panel
    In my world, just about the only "green" I care about usually involves Ben Franklin and his co-horts. Still, it's easy to appreciate a technology that isn't just earth-friendly, but also saves plenty of those bills over time. I think aesthetics and cost are a big reason you don't see more Solar technology in homes and businesses right now, and stuff like this can only help to bring the technology more into the main-stream. Pretty cool.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Playdrv4me
    22nd May 2010
  • Solar
    Just waiting for costs and efficiency to get better.
    My two story has a huge south facing wall.
    Being in the back asthetics are not as high on the list but still I don't want it to look home made.
    Selling back electricity would be my main goal, my bill is usually only $130 a month so it should not be difficult to cover that and then some with solar panels.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    MoeFugger
    22nd May 2010
  • RE: Window doubles as solar panel
    Absolutely amazing! I am just hoping for affordability.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    About Ebusiness
    22nd May 2010
  • Seems to preclude passive solar heating
    The video makes it seem like it's for commercial buildings and only works well in the summer. How can you get pasive solar heating in the winter if the windows don't transmit much of the light.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    ron.cleaver@...
    22nd May 2010

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