Onyx Solar’s Low-e photovoltaic glass voted the most innovative product in USA
Low-e produces electricity and also matches and sometimes surpasses the properties of conventional low-e glass.
Using low-e photovoltaic glass, clients can save up to 90% of their electricity bill. With this amount of savings in cities like Los Angeles, the investment is amortized in only 3 years with annual average yields of 40%.
Even in places with extreme weather conditions like Alaska, savings of up to 30% can be made, giving clients an annual profitability of up to 22%.
Onyx Solar developed Low-E Photovoltaic Glass for building envelopes. The glass unit combines the benefits of a traditional low-emissivity glass with the addition of the generation of free electricity from the sun.
The product relies on the traditional low-E glass makeup, with a semi-transparent V-inch PV interlayer to generate electricity. This configuration, with natural properties of the amorphous silicon solar technology, offers numerous benefits to a curtain wall or skylight project. The Low-E PV glass:
- Filters out 95 percent of ultraviolet radiation and up to 85 percent of infrared radiation, due to the silicon based material of the PV interlayer.
- Provides a solar heat gain coefficient ranging from 10 to 40 percent, depending on the configuration selected, thus providing enhanced thermal comfort.
- Allows for natural daylight, and maintains views, with a visible light transmittance up to 40 percent.
- Provides reflectivity from 7 to 9 percent, making it an attractive product option for south-facing façades in the Southern United States.
- Offers thermal insulation, as the glass is available as double and triple glazed units, providing U-values up to 0.13.
- Generates free electricity from the sun, reducing operations and management costs for the owner.
“We are trying to offer a multi-functional glass that gives the standards of the low-E available in the market, as well as providing electricity for the owners and reducing the carbon footprint of the construction,” said Diego Cuevas, Onyx’s vice president, global business development for the Americas.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.glassonline.com/site/news/topic/Photovoltaic-glass/id/25029/Onyx-Solars-Lowe-photovoltaic-glass-voted-the-most-innovative-product-in-USA