REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ubiquitous Energy, a next-generation technology company developing truly transparent solar technology for architectural glass, has successfully demonstrated 1.5 meter wide glass coated uniformly with the company’s UE Power™ transparent solar materials. This critical milestone shows the ability to scale UE Power™ to large sizes uniformly, which is critical in achieving high performing solar devices while maintaining the beautiful aesthetics and function of traditional low-emissivity window glass. This milestone paves the way for the company’s upcoming high volume manufacturing line that will produce 1.5 x 3.0 meter floor-to-ceiling, transparent solar windows.
Ubiquitous Energy has achieved this milestone through years of development with a trusted provider of manufacturing equipment to the global architectural glass and photovoltaics industries. UE Power™ is the only transparent solar glass coating technology that is manufactured using vacuum physical vapor deposition (PVD), the same equipment used by global manufacturers to coat nearly all architectural glass today totaling billions of square feet annually. UE Power™ organic semiconductor materials were deposited in a full-size PVD prototype coater, showing near-perfect uniformity within 1-2% tolerance over 1.5 meter wide glass for coatings that are tens of nanometers thick.
“Achieving this milestone prepares us well as we move our transparent solar technology from the pilot phase into full-scale manufacturing,” says Ubiquitous Energy co-founder and CTO Miles Barr. “Architectural glass isn’t actually flat; it’s slightly wavy. For this reason, achieving highly uniform, defect-free thin film electronics like transparent solar over large glass sheets has historically been difficult by other methods like solution printing. Well established PVD coating technology gives us tight control over thickness and optical appearance of our transparent solar organic semiconductor materials and allows us to piggyback on the equipment and process controls that has been enjoyed by the architectural glass industry for decades.”
The prototype coater will now be replicated for the deposition of transparent solar materials in the company’s first high volume U.S. manufacturing line that is expected to be operational in 2024. Large scale deployment of the company’s transparent solar technology can have a positive impact to addressing climate change by increasing the amount of renewable energy generation that is available by integrating seamlessly into everyday surfaces without impacting aesthetics. Each 1.5 x 3.0 meter piece of UE Power™ glass could generate up to 1kWh of electricity every day.
About Ubiquitous Energy
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Ubiquitous Energy is a next-generation technology company that provides energy efficient, transparent solar windows to both commercial and residential customers. A world leader in transparent photovoltaics, its award-winning technology was born from some of the world’s most prestigious university labs and is the world’s only truly transparent solar product. UE Power™ is a solar coating that integrates into standard windows without sacrificing beauty, design or vision, with endless possibilities for future applications. For more information please visit us at https://ubiquitous.energy/ or connect with us via Facebook, Twitter, or Linkedin.
