prototype electrochromic glass of Heliotrope Technologies
With using a new glass material wants a U.S. start-up produce slices to block either visible or infrared light -., and no more expensive than a conventional double glazing
“Smart” windows by pressing a button change their light transmission, are one of those technologies that adorn since the 1990s, future reports. How they work is known – how to make it cheap, do not. This shortcoming will finally solve Heliotrope Technologies. Based at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory start-up has found a cost-glass mixture that can selectively block visible or infrared light. Windows of the material will help to make buildings more energy efficient and save money
There are different approaches to manipulate the light transmittance of glasses. Means of heat in “thermochromic” current “electrochromic” and light in “photochromic” slices. The U.S. Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL estimates that could be reduced by five percent with their help, the power consumption of the United States. So far, the technology on niche applications such as tintable mirrors in cars but not gone. The discs are just too expensive for mass use.
in tone stating electrochromic windows are currently the Company and View announcement Electrochromics, which was recently taken over by the glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain. But the products of the two only modulate visible light. Infratrotstrahlung they could influence, too, but only at the same time as visible light, says Delia Milliron, co-founder of Heliotrope and researcher at LBNL. “There is no separation of the spectra as a function of voltage, as we can make in our glasses.” Heliotrope glass is the first that the transmission of visible light and infrared controls independently. The glass can therefore assume three states, which is only visible, infrared only, or both through. Another advantage: If you set the phase of the voltage, you can turn off the power again – the glass remains in this state until you send through the next voltage pulse. Millirons group at LBNL, the material has recently described in the scientific journal Nature. The operation of electrochromic windows similar to that of batteries. Between two layers of glass is conducting an electrolyte layer. Depending on how the charge carriers are distributed by loading or unloading, the light transmittance of the glasses changes. The glass of Millirons group consisting of indium tin oxide nanocrystals (ITN), which is embedded in a niobium oxide glass are. It is used as one of the electrode surfaces in the disk. A proper voltage charges the ITN crystals, which then absorb infrared photons. If! the voltage increases, the niobium oxide in the glass is reduced electrochemically, ie picks up electrons. This blocks visible light, the disc sounds themselves. Another, again weaker voltage pulse on the material back to its transparent state. Heliotrope does not use the exact same composition as the LBNL researchers. The proprietary blend glass is similar but says co-founder Jason Holt. He points out that the three-phase short term are not the key feature, with the start-up could score. The cheap production cost plays a much larger role to expand the market for smart windows, says Holt. The Products of view and Sage are per square meter twice as expensive as a typical double glazing for homes. The glass will be produced in a cheap deposition process and come out without vacuum chambers that are necessary for electrochromic windows so far. Therefore Holt expects that his company will rest with their production price not far from the conventional discs. In the previous amortization periods buy nobody electrochromic windows to reduce its energy costs, says Eric Bloom, an analyst at Navigant Research and author of a report on the technology market. In the near future buyer would these wheels fit just because the were “cool”. In five years, the business model could, however, change the direction of energy saving, expected Bloom. Heliotrope Technologies can now once its large panes of glass producers examine. Addition, we wanted to build larger prototypes, says Jason Holt. So far, they measure only a few square centimeters. In half years models could then be possible the size of the skylight. . A first marketable product would you have done in three years, Holt The Paper:
Llordés, Anna et al. “Tunable near-infrared and visible light transmittance in nano-crystal-to-glass composites “, Nature , Vol 500, pp. 323-326, August 15 2013 (Abstract) <- AUTHOR MARKER DATA BEGIN - > ( Mike Orcutt ) / <- RSPEAK_STOP -> (nbo)
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