Wide-Area Coverage with Transparent Solar Technology

Transparent Solar Technology Achieves Large-Area Coating Ubiquitous Energy, a next-generation technology company developing genuine transparent solar energy technology for architectural glass, has successfully demonstrated its UE Power™ product—a 1.5-metre-wide glass unit uniformly coated with transparent solar energy materials. This critical milestone demonstrates the ability to scale UE Power™ to large dimensions, which is essential for achieving high-performance solar energy devices while preserving the aesthetic appeal and functionality of conventional low-emissivity window glass. This milestone paves the way for the company's high-volume production line that will manufacture 1.5 x 3.0 metre floor-to-ceiling transparent solar windows. Ubiquitous Energy reached this milestone through years of development work with a trusted production equipment supplier to the global architectural glass and photovoltaic industries. UE Power™ is a leading transparent solar glass coating technology produced using physical vapor deposition (PVD)—the same equipment used by global manufacturers today to coat virtually all architectural glass. These systems are identical to those currently used by manufacturers worldwide to coat billions of square metres of glass annually. UE Power™ organic semiconductor materials were deposited on a full-scale PVD prototype coater on 1.5-metre-wide glass, demonstrating near-perfect homogeneity within 1–2% tolerance for coatings tens of nanometres thick. Miles Barr, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Ubiquitous Energy, said: "Reaching this milestone positions us to transition our transparent solar technology from the pilot stage to full-scale production. Architectural glass is actually not flat; it is slightly wavy. Therefore, achieving highly homogeneous, defect-free thin-film devices like transparent solar energy on large glass sheets has historically been difficult with other methods such as solution printing. Established PVD coating technology gives us tight control over the thickness and optical appearance of our transparent solar organic semiconductor materials and allows us to leverage the equipment and process controls that the architectural glass industry has relied on for decades." [caption id="attachment_139095" align="aligncenter"] Image of the Ubiquitous Energy team holding a 1.5 x 3.0 metre glass unit coated with one of Ubiquitous Energy's UE Power™ transparent solar materials (Photo source: Business Wire)[/caption] The prototype coater will now be replicated for deposition of transparent solar energy materials on the company's first high-volume US production line, expected to become operational in 2024. By seamlessly integrating into everyday surfaces without affecting aesthetics and increasing current renewable energy generation capacity, large-scale deployment of this transparent solar energy technology by the company could have a positive impact on addressing climate change. Each 1.5 x 3.0 metre UE Power™ glass unit can generate up to 1 kWh of electricity per day. Source