New Development Would Turn Windows into Solar Panels

Those door-to-door salesmen hawking residential solar panels might have a new hustle soon – a California startup wants to use windows to harvest energy.

The company has developed transparent solar cells to hopefully make their name a reality – Ubiquitous Energy. Their ClearView Power windows would essentially act as “solar glass,” gathering and converting sunlight without the need for bulky solar panels.

And the potential is seemingly unlimited.

"It can be applied to windows of skyscrapers; it can be applied to glass in automobiles; it can be applied to the glass on your iPhone," said Miles Barr, Ubiquitous Energy's founder and chief technology officer.

That said, their solar glass is still in the very early stages, and we’re nowhere close to discussing price or, more crucially, efficiency.

The efficiency of consumer solar panels wavers somewhere from 15-22%, while solar cells in a lab setting have reached as high as 47%. Solar glass seems like a great idea and an efficient – and potentially more aesthetically pleasing – source of energy, but I’ve heard pitches like this before.

You can read more about this potential breakthrough here: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/tech/solar-windows-ubiquitous-energy-california/index.html