Technology of smart window developed to generate electricity and save energy

Cocperated with scientists in Germany and Britain, a research team from Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a smart window that can not only generate electricity, but also save energy.

It uses wavelength-selective absorption film coupled with thermoelectric devices to convert solar heat into electrical energy.

The film allows visible light to pass through and can absorb invisible ultraviolet and infrared rays, then converting them into heat energy.

The process consists of making inorganic crystal material into a thin film to give it optical properties, attaching it to an intermediate layer of hollow glass and installing electrodes around it. The transmittance of the glass can be designed according to people's needs, leveraging the invisible light from the sun to produce energy, said Cao Xun, the researcher.

Currently, the new technology combines transparent photovoltaic cells with architectural glass, so power generation efficiency is often offset by window transparency.

The technology is expected to be put into commercial use in two years, as it is still in the research and development stage.

According to statistics from the International Energy Agency, buildings and their related energy consumption account for more than one-third of the world's total energy consumption, and the contribution of building energy to global carbon dioxide emissions is close to 40 percent.

Therefore, the use of buildings to achieve energy saving and even power generation has become an important measure to promote green development and is of great significance to the full realization of energy saving and emission reduction goals.