Hybrid creation reduces the cost of heating and cooling a building
Researchers have created a "smart" window that saves and also produces energy and can radically reduce the heating and cooling costs of a building.
The creation belongs to Chinese researchers, who take the so-called "energy" windows a step further. These are windows that regulate the entry and exit of light and heat, in order to achieve optimal energy savings, depending on the season.
The scientific team led by Yanfeng Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences integrated energy production capabilities into the window!
To achieve this, they used a special material, which acts as a transparent coating on the window, regulating the influx of infrared solar radiation.
Depending on the ambient temperature, the material in question changes its properties so that, when the mercury drops below a certain threshold, the material insulates the window and at the same time becomes absorbent, allowing the Sun's infrared light to enter the interior of the space. When, on the contrary, the temperature rises above a certain threshold, the window coating material becomes reflective, "repelling" the infrared radiation coming from outside.
At the same time, small solar cells are placed around the window glass, generating enough energy to power a desk lamp. The cells receive the infrared sunlight that is scattered throughout the space.
The great difficulty for engineers to date has been to integrate such photovoltaic cells into a window without it losing its transparency, something that Chinese researchers seem to have succeeded in doing.
Source: newsbeast.gr
