ClearVue, Perth, has installed solar glass at a shopping centre

Source: ClearVue

ClearVue has installed its transparent solar glass in an atrium at a shopping centre in Perth. The solar atrium at the Warwick Grove Shopping Centre, made out of ClearVue’s transparent solar glass, would be used alongside battery storage to power lighting, signage and a display screen at the retail outlet.

The patented technology allows visible light to pass through a pane of glass, while the invisible wavelengths of light are deflected to the edges of the glass by nanoparticles where they are converted into electricity by solar panels. The electricity is stored in batteries so it can be used when needed. (For more information on how this works see ClearVue’s website).

These transparent solar glass panels have many potential applications to power a range of buildings from glasshouses to skyscrapers. Our sun can power the whole world in a clean and sustainable way. There's enough solar energy hitting the surface of the Earth to satisfy our energy requirements many times over. These glass panels could have the ability to harness much more of the sun’s power. Currently with solar panels we are only providing 0.2% of the world’s energy requirements (cited at ClearVue’s website).

References:
- ClearVue: http://www.clearvuepv.com/.
- RenewEconomy: ClearVue solar glass notches first commercial setting - a shopping centre atrium. February 6, 2019.
Postscript:
- Australian solar PV integrated window technology gains US approval. RenewEconomy, November 29, 2019.

New transparent solar PV glass has huge energy making potential

A building such as the Shard, centre, could generate 2,500MW/yr if fitted with Polysolar panels (photo: Julie May)

Polysolar glass panels, from Cambridge UK, are based on a range of thin-film PV technologies. One panel measuring 1,200mm by 600m can generate an average of 5kWh of power per month – equivalent to half an average home’s power consumption per day.

“The panels have already been installed in certain spots around the UK, for instance, in the first solar-powered bus shelter in Canary Wharf, London…...They have also been deployed in a domestic setting, having been installed as part of a garage roof and workshop in a trial that saw the panels meet the complete power needs of the owner’s home and electric car.”

“While not the first company to target windows capable of harvesting solar energy for commercial use, Polysolar believes it has cracked the problem of creating functional PV film that doesn’t distort, tint or dim natural light.” The company is looking for funding.

Read more at: Solar panel glass could turn skyscrapers into power stations. Power Technology, June 8, 2018.