Ubiquitous Energy, the leader in transparent solar technology, has installed the world’s first truly transparent solar window façade at its company headquarters in Redwood City, CA.
Approximately 100 square feet of transparent solar windows have been installed as an exterior facing window façade replacing the previous single pane windows. This Ubiquitous Energy window façade installation demonstrates the ability to generate clean, renewable energy while maintaining aesthetic beauty, high transparency, and color neutrality.
Each double pane window has been glazed into a fiberglass frame, matching the existing aesthetic of the building’s windows. The windows produce electricity that is being used to power the LED lighting in the adjacent room, while simultaneously maintaining the performance of standard commercial window glass. The façade is also connected to an energy management system that monitors and logs its power generation.
“Not only did we improve the thermal insulation in the conference room by replacing the single pane windows, but also our Ubiquitous Energy windows generate enough electricity to power the lighting in the conference room. We are thrilled with the outcome of this installation and look forward to completing other installation projects in the near future,” said Ubiquitous Energy Co-founder and CTO Miles Barr. “I have been looking at BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) since 1999 and this is the best thing I have ever seen in BIPV,” said Scott Thomsen, former Guardian Industries President.
Applied directly on glass using standard glass coating equipment, Ubiquitous Energy’s coating is highly transparent and color neutral. The transparent solar coating selectively absorbs and converts non-visible light (ultraviolet and infrared) to electricity while maintaining visible transparency. It also doubles as a low-E and solar control coating in addition to its electricity generation by blocking infrared light that is commonly known as solar heat. The transparent solar coating can be applied to vertical surfaces of buildings turning traditional windows into aesthetically pleasing, highly energy efficient, and electricity generating windows that are desired by architects, designers, and occupants.
About Ubiquitous Energy
At Ubiquitous Energy, the world leader in transparent photovoltaics, we envision a world in which every pane of glass generates renewable electricity from sunlight, dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of buildings—among the world’s biggest energy consumers—without compromising the transparent, vibrant experience occupants expect from their windows. After nearly a decade of R&D, Ubiquitous Energy has developed an award-winning technology, the world’s first aesthetically acceptable, electricity-generating alternative to traditional windows. Ubiquitous Energy’s coating harvests solar energy and serves as an invisible, onboard source of electricity for a variety of end products. The thin coating can be applied to the surface of window glass to provide electricity generation and energy efficiency. Originally spun out of MIT, Ubiquitous Energy is producing its highly transparent, efficient solar cells in its production facility in Silicon Valley.
