Solar Windows For a Smart Future

Solar generation is being used in a variety of ways to give people options on how they want to power their homes. Instead of big, bulky panels on the roof, there is a more discreet roofing alternative. For example, the ability to install solar-powered glass. Solar power is an environmentally sound option for producing electricity using renewable, non-polluting sunlight. However, solar panels only function properly when they have exposure to enough direct sunlight. If you use solar panels indoors or in your vehicle, having tinted windows will likely affect how they work. But as long as some sunlight is present, solar panels will still work.

Solar panels mounted on rooftops and south-facing exterior walls get the best exposure to sun and produce the most power. But small, indoor solar panels are also used for different tasks. For example, solar calculators reduce the need for disposable batteries. The small amount of power that a calculator consumes means that even a heavily tinted window will allow enough solar energy through to run the machine. Solar charging stations allow for indoor battery and device recharging, provided that tinted windows allow enough energy through. Solar charging stations allow for indoor battery and device recharging, provided that tinted windows allow enough energy through. Even if you want to use solar panels indoors, adding tinted windows can improve your overall energy efficiency.

Solar Windows are windows that feature embedded photovoltaic elements, capturing a portion of the sunlight that passes through and converting it into electricity.  This can be used as an alternative to indoor solar panels and tinted windows. Solar windows have some of the same benefits as tinted windows, but they produce their own power directly from the light that strikes them.

Basically, a solar window is a window with built-in photovoltaic functionality. This means that they can convert light from the sun into electric energy.

There are 3 major solar window types that are currently available or intensively researched:

• Photovoltaic films: these are thin films of organic cells coated onto the glass, working also as a retrofit solution for standard window glass
• Dual glass (also called: double glass or glass-glass) modules, which basically crystalline silicon solar cells sandwiched between two layers of glass
• Solar-embedded windows, which are glass windows with the solar cells embedded into the glass

Key advantages of solar windows are:

• Use of natural daylight for power generation
• A vertical application which is particularly important in space-limited areas such as (big) cities
• Makes solar PV not only confined to owners of roof-top houses but is virtually applicable to every household, even those in the skyscrapers of the many mega-cities in this world
• Some types can be retrofit (photovoltaic films)
• Can potentially further boost decentralization of power generation

Let’s go green with solar windows, the perfect way for the smart future. Use the power of solar energy and together we can create a world of energy efficient solutions.

For more details: Soura Natural Energy Solutions