The Anonymous Widower

The Simple Logic Of An Engineer or Scientist

Let’s face it we’ve got to generate more electricity in a zero-carbon way.  Or should I say capture more energy?

One way to do this is to put photo-voltaic cells everywhere.  But they are expensive and in many places can’t be used for aesthetic reasons.

So I was pleased to see in today’s Sunday Times, that a company, called Oxford Photovoltaics, is developing a solar cell that can be built into a window.

My Front Window

The picture shows one of my two front windows, which are actually glazed as many windows are by double-glazed panels that slot into aluminium or plastic frames. So to mount one of these sandwich glass photo voltaic cells could be a simple replacement.

I suspect too, that with a proper control system, the windows could be controlled to let the appropriate amount of sunlight through for lighting and warmth purposes. Most of the energy absorbed would become electricity, which could be fed back into the grid or used in the building.

The great advantage of this system, is that to be ready for it, when it is fully developed, you don’t have to do anything now except to ensure that all new houses, flats and offices are built to accept simple drop-in glazing panels.

This compny may not be the one that succeeds, but one definitely will.

July 24, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | News | Energy, Global Warming/Zero-Carbon