Originally published November 15 2005
Company manufactures new building-integrated photovoltaic technology
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
San Diego-area company XsunX is now marketing a thin polymer photovoltaic layer called Powerglass that can be applied to windows, canopies and roofs.
We've written frequently about building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), the concept of putting solar power generation capabilities into building materials, rather than as bolt-on additions.
Manufactured by San Diego-area company XsunX, Power Glass puts a transparent, thin-film polymer photovoltaic layer onto window glass.
At least, they think so -- they haven't yet started shipping or licensing products, although they expect to do so soon.
And they do appear to be getting close; earlier this month, they announced a process for creating "large area" sheets of thin-film pv, a necessary step for coating glass cost-effectively.
The Power Glass won't really replace standard solar panels for serious applications, however.
Eventually, the cost, efficiency and convenience of use curves will intersect for a wide variety of material objects.
Already, building-integrated photovoltaics can make a great deal of sense, as most buildings have some access to sunlight and can balance their power generation and demand through connection to the grid.
As polymer photovoltaic costs come down and efficiency increases, we're likely to see at least experimental integration into the bodies of hybrid vehicles.
This will be limited initially, as cars are less likely to spend as much time in the sun as buildings, and (because of the way cars are curved) will have a smaller proportion of their surface area receiving full sunlight at any given time.
Even wider use of object-integrated pv is possible with much greater efficiency and much lower cost.
One scenario -- by no means the most likely, but certainly conceivable -- has thin-film photovoltaic coatings on most objects, whether or not they receive abundant sunlight, as long as they can store the resulting trickle of power or are connected to the grid.
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