Solar power windows: Connecting scientific advances to market signals

Needell, David R.; Phelan, Megan; Hartlove, Jason; Atwater, Harry A.

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2020.119567

Cited by 27 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Needell et al conducted a market analysis for PV windows in the US. [452] A key finding was that dynamic windows that combine photovoltaics with reversible tunable transmittance in a controllable and intelligent way represent one of the most promising applications for the building sector. Even though there are no available market for PV windows with smart switchable transparency yet, the tuning of the transparency of windows by electrochromic and other switchable technologies is expected to result in a further reduction of the energy consumption of buildings.…”

Section: Window-integrated Pvmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tunable Photovoltaics: Adapting Solar Cell Technologies to Versatile Applications

Meddeb

Götz‐Köhler

Neugebohrn

et al. 2022

Advanced Energy Materials

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solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass, to enable a steady mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing the planetary climate change and global warming. [5][6][7] Additionally, due to the economic development and the worldwide urbanization, a continuous rise of the global energy consumption across all key sectors, that is, power, heating, industry, and transport is occurring. This is expressed by an increase in the annual global electricity demand by 4.5% in 2021 corresponding to additional 1000 TWh. [4] Hence, strict criteria for the selection of competitive and abundant energy alternatives are imposed, requiring high yield at affordable prices. [8] The share of total renewables power generation excluding hydropower exceeded 3000 TWh in 2020, corresponding to almost 12% of the global electricity generation. [3] Considering an effective synergy between various sustainable energy candidates, solar photovoltaics (PV) have demonstrated great capabilities that can satisfy the requirements in the pathway towards 100% renewable electricity. [9][10][11][12] Owing to the research and development activities over the last decades, the power conversion efficiencies of solar cells (SC) have skyrocketed with a prolonged operation lifetime (>15 years) and a drastic plummeting in manufacturing costs (global average module selling price below $0.25 per W). [6,[13][14][15] The rapid universal deployment of PV resulted in a contribution of about 3.4% in the worldwide electricity generation in 2020. [3] Presently, the global installed PV capacity is approaching 1 TW and it is envisioned to reach ≈10 TW by 2030 and 30 to 70 TW by 2050. [16] Interestingly, along with massive electricity production using conventional solar power plants and rooftop solar panels, ancillary concepts of PV offer new strategies for supplying modern systems in versatile applications. [17][18][19] Moreover, diverse functionalities beyond solar energy harvesting can be afforded by adaptive PV, including aesthetic appearance, visual comfort and thermal management. [17,18,20,21] The distributed nature and the ubiquitous accessibility of multifunctional PV products are substantial features of solar PV in contrast to other renewable energies. However, traditional SCs dominating the market impose intrinsic optoelectronic and thermomechanical limitations, that prohibit their multifunctional utilization. To overcome these drawbacks, novel functional materials and innovative device architecture Solar photovoltaics (PV) offer viable and sustainable solutions to satisfy the growing energy demand and to meet the pressing climate targets. The deployment of conventional PV technologies is one of the major contributors of the ongoing energy transition in electricity power sector. However, the diversity of PV paradigms can open different opportunities for supplying modern systems in a wide range of terrestrial, marine, and aerospace applications. Such ubiquitous and versatile applications necessitate the development of PV technologies with customized desig...

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Section: Window-integrated Pvmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tunable Photovoltaics: Adapting Solar Cell Technologies to Versatile Applications

Meddeb

Götz‐Köhler

Neugebohrn

et al. 2022

Advanced Energy Materials

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“…Solar power alone could produce 3.1 × 10 17 kWh per year with an annual global energy demand of 1.6 × 10 14 kWh [60][61][62]. Moreover, the solar redesign of cities could include the expansion of solar panels to other parts of the cityscape other than the tops of buildings, e.g., solar pavement [63,64], solar windows [65,66], and solar farms located in and out of city limits (as found throughout many parts of Spain [67]). Currently, the world's largest renewable energy hub, the Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) in Western Australia, plans to mix solar and wind and is poised to match Australia's entire energy fleet, contributing a whopping 50 GW in power generation.…”

Section: Technical Transition Of Energy-friendly Technologies: Urban Energy Mitigation From Non-renewable To Renewablementioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Re-Shift for an Urbanizing World

et al. 2021

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This essay considers the rural-to-urban transition and correlates it with urban energy demands. Three distinct themes are inspected and interrelated to develop awareness for an urbanizing world: internal urban design and innovation, technical transition, and geopolitical change. Data were collected on the use of energy in cities and, by extension, nation states over the last 30 years. The urban population boom continues to pressure the energy dimension with heavily weighted impacts on less developed regions. Sustainable urban energy will need to reduce resource inputs and environmental impacts and decouple economic growth from energy consumption. Fossil fuels continue to be the preferred method of energy for cities; however, an increased understanding is emerging that sustainable energy forms can be implemented as alternatives. Key to this transition will be the will to invest in renewables (i.e., solar, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, and biomass), efficient infrastructure, and smart eco-city designs. This essay elucidates how the technical transition of energy-friendly technologies focuses on understanding the changes in the energy mix from non-renewable to renewable. Smart electricity storage grids with artificial intelligence can operate internationally and alleviate some geopolitical barriers. Energy politics is shown to be a problematic hurdle with case research examples specific to Central and Eastern Europe. The energy re-shift stressed is a philosophical re-thinking of modern cities as well as a new approach to the human-energy relationship.

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Section: Technical Transition Of Energy-friendly Technologies: Urban Energy Mitigation From Non-renewable To Renewablementioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Security as a Key Driving Factor for Socioeconomic Development: From Mitigation to Solution

2021

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Solar power windows: Connecting scientific advances to market signals

Cited by 27 publications

References 37 publications

Tunable Photovoltaics: Adapting Solar Cell Technologies to Versatile Applications

Tunable Photovoltaics: Adapting Solar Cell Technologies to Versatile Applications

Energy Re-Shift for an Urbanizing World

Energy Security as a Key Driving Factor for Socioeconomic Development: From Mitigation to Solution

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