The future of solar-powered houses is clear
Professor John Bell said QUT had worked with a Canberra-based company Dyesol, which is developing transparent solar cells that act as both windows and energy generators in houses or commercial buildings.
He said the solar cell glass would make a significant difference to
home and building owners’ energy costs and could in fact generate excess
energy that could be stored on onsold.
Professor Bell said the glass was one of a number of practical technologies
that would help combat global warming which was a focus of research at the
ISR.
“The transparent solar cells have a faint reddish hue but are completely
see-through,” Professor Bell said.
“The solar cells contain titanium dioxide coated in a dye that increases
light absorption.
“The glass captures solar energy which can be used to power the house but
can also reduce overheating of the house, reducing the need for cooling.”
Professor Bell said it would be possible to build houses made entirely of
the transparent solar cells.
“As long as a house is designed throughout for energy efficiency, with
low-energy appliances it is conceivable it could be self-sustaining in its
power requirements using the solar-cell glass,” he said.
“Australian housing design tends to encourage high energy use because
electricity is so cheap.
“But it is easy to build a house that doesn’t need powered cooling or
heating in Queensland.”
Professor Bell said the solar cell glass was the subject of two Australian
Research Council Linkage grants to QUT researchers to investigate ways to
increase its energy absorption and to reduce the effects of “shadowing”,
where overcast skies and shadwos from trees or other buildings can cause
loss of collected power.
He said the glass would be on the market a few years.
Source: Queensland University of Technology
