SolarWindow Technologies Inc., a developer of novel transparent electricity-generating coatings for glass and flexible plastics, announced that it has entered into Phase III of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The primary development goal of the agreement is the commercialization of SolarWindow™ products, the company said.

NREL scientists have been working with SolarWindow Principal Scientist Scott R. Hammond during the development of SolarWindow transparent electricity-generating coatings. SolarWindow is initially targeting the estimated five million tall towers and commercial buildings in the United States, which consume almost 40 percent of electrical energy generated.

“The prospect of skyscrapers generating electricity from see-through window products is very exciting,” said Maikel van Hest, a senior scientist in the Thin Film and Processing Group within the National Center for Photovoltaics at NREL. “Through our CRADA, we have been able to develop and test this technology using some of the world’s most advanced state-of-the-art equipment. As a result, SolarWindow and NREL have advanced the technology by enhancing scale, efficiency and reliability.”

A spokesman for SolarWindow said commercialization of the technology is anticipated by the end of 2017.

Under the terms of the R&D agreement, SolarWindow and NREL will continue to work jointly to enhance product performance, increase scale, and improve reliability; and develop new features and obtain important performance certifications required for a commercial rollout.

In addition, the team will focus on various SolarWindow™ product-specific goals, including:

  • Large-scale window fabrication
  • Interconnection development for easy “plug-n-play” on-site installation
  • Advanced performance measurement and modeling of SolarWindow when installed in various building types and geographies
  • SolarWindow performance under varying artificial and natural light conditions

Closing in on ‘breakthrough’ technology

SolarWindow Technologies says SolarWindow can provide a one-year financial payback while producing 50 times greater energy than rooftop solar when modeled for a 50-story building, according to the company’s independent validation. For the same building, the company says SolarWindow shows 15 times the environmental benefit of rooftop solar by avoiding 2.2 million miles of equivalent carbon dioxide emissions produced by vehicles, according to the company’s independently validated Power & Financial Model.

“With this CRADA extension in place, we’re one step closer to launching what is possibly the single greatest breakthrough technology in clean energy to help us overcome our dependence on fossil fuels,” said John A. Conklin, SolarWindow president and CEO. “Keeping in mind that commercial buildings consume almost 40 percent of America’s electricity, our goal is to put a solid dent in reducing carbon emissions and offsetting a building carbon footprint while providing customers with clean electricity-generating solutions that make economic sense.”

SolarWindow Technologies, Columbia, Md., is a developer of next generation, transparent electricity-generating SolarWindow coatings. The coatings generate electricity on see-through glass and flexible plastics with colored tints popular in skyscraper glass. Unlike conventional systems, the technology uses organic materials that are dissolved into liquid; a patent is pending.