Smart glass is a portfolio of new technologies which are based on new achievements in material science, demands on energy efficiency and comfort and smart building automation requirements and are reaching a new momentum. This is not technology hype but the matureness of technologies and emergence of new ones that will become a $700 million market in the next couple of years.
Energy harvesting and smart glass technologies are a natural fit, since they complement and supplement each other in the pursuit of clean energy and efficient use of energy in the built infrastructure. The natural formula for a sustainable energy system is first to accomplish energy efficiency (smart glass), recover energy from the environment and then satisfy the reduced energy demand with cleaner technologies (energy harvesting).
IDTechEx published their first smart glass report, "Smart Glass 2014-2024: Technologies, Markets, Forecasts", and will introduce a Smart Glass Forum in the Energy Harvesting & Storage Europe Conference to be held on 1-2, April in Berlin.
A selection of the leaders in this industry include Mr Joseph Harary from Research Frontiers, who will be the keynote speaker and will provide an overview of the relevance of the industry. Dr Jam Wurm from global firm ARUP will present the latest developments on energy harvesting and bio-adaptive shading.
On the other hand, Dr Jenson Wang from Scienstry will present its third-generation liquid crystal technology that allows not only light control but offers the possibility of become a projection surface for exteriors in buildings. Dr Alexander Kraft from Gesimat, will speak about electrochromic technology, its construction and performance. Dr Kars-Michiel Lenssen from Philips Research will present their findings based on their e-Skin technology on what the industry defines as the holy-grail for smart windows: a solution for active, independent control of incident light and heat.
Finally, Dr Damoder Reddy from Argil Inc. will present another dimension of innovation in smart glass technologies, this is how to manufacture them through printed films. IDTechEx believes this is the stepping stone for flexible smart glass.
