Scientists in China said on Thursday they had designed a “smart” window that can both save and generate energy, and may ultimately reduce heating and cooling costs for buildings.
While allowing us to feel close to the outside world, windows cause heat to escape from buildings in winter and let the sun’s unwanted rays enter in summer.
This has sparked a quest for “smart” windows that can adapt to weather conditions outside.
Today’s smart windows are limited to regulating light and heat from the sun, allowing a lot of potential energy to escape, study co-author Yanfeng Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said.
“The main innovation of this work is that it developed a concept smart window device for simultaneous generation and saving of energy.”
Engineers have long battled to incorporate energy-generating solar cells into window panes without affecting their transparency.