(NOAA)
New Energy Technologies Inc. in Columbia, Maryland and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado have collected and transported electricity with a conductive wiring system built for the company’s product that generates solar power through window glass. NREL is a division of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The company’s main product is a type of window glass called SolarWindow that generates electric power, without separate panels or collectors. The technology layers tiny solar cells on window glass arranged in a network and connected in a grid-like wiring system. Earlier versions of SolarWindow were thicker and obstructed light, which also limited the performance of the cells. Now, says the company, both the cells and the wiring connecting cells are barely visible.
New Energy Technologies claims the wiring system gives SolarWindow a more efficient collection and transport of electric power, by mitigating electrical road-blocks that restrict the flow of electrons. The wiring system thus provides a more stable network of connections among each of the interconnected solar cells.
“[W]e are now able to confidently tackle two of the most important factors to eventual commercialization,” says John Conklin, CEO of New Energy Technologies,”the structure and transparency of the wiring system which transports the electricity generated on see-through glass, and overall performance.
New Energy and NREL signed their collaboration deal a year ago. The company’s technology was initially developed by physicist Xiaomei Jiang at University of South Florida in Tampa, and licensed to New Energy. The first target market for the technology is the five million commercial buildings in the U.S.
Read more: Solar Developer, Energy Lab Sign R&D Deal
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