Transparent Egypt Solar PV Market made it possible for skyscrapers to generate their own power. Solar panel windows could be used to make more buildings carbon neutral as an alternative to traditional PV panels on roofs.

Polysolar, a company based in Cambridge, developed the panels and has launched a funding program to market them.

The program has been launched on Crowdcube, and the funds raised will be used to cover costs associated with development and manufacturing. The amount would be added to the £1.5 million that the company has already invested in the technology's design and development.
Introduction to Polysolar's solar panel windows A variety of thin-film PV technologies serve as the foundation for Polysolar's panels. A panel measuring 1,200 millimeters by 600 meters has the capacity to generate 5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power on a monthly basis, or half of what a typical home consumes in electricity per day.

If Polysolar solar panel windows were installed, the company estimates that a structure like the Shard, which has enough glass to cover eight football fields, could generate approximately 2,500MWh annually. In addition, air conditioning loads have decreased.

This amount could either meet the annual energy requirements of 1,000 homes or construct a zero-carbon structure.

Although a typical panel currently costs twice as much as a standard glass window, the company claims that once volume production begins, the price could drop to a 10% premium over the cost of regular glass.

According to Polysolar CEO Hamish Watson, "ongoing concerns about global emissions targets" have made it more important than ever to develop new clean energy products like solar panel windows. He went on to say that he sees a "huge potential market" and an "opportunity to contribute to the preservation of our planet."
Opportunities for solar panel windows An independent analysis suggests that opportunities for building-integrated PVs could reach $26 billion by 2022, despite the fact that this represents only a small portion of the overall market for building glass.

The first solar-powered bus shelter, for example, is located in Canary Wharf, London, and the panels have already been installed there. In addition, they have been incorporated into a number of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) structures, including automotive sunroofs, canopies, skylights, greenhouses, and the facades of Network Rail buildings and Sainsbury's gas stations.

They have also been used at home, where they were installed as part of a garage roof and workshop in a trial that saw the panels power the owner's electric car and home completely.

Polysolar was established in 2007 with the intention of reducing buildings' energy consumption without compromising their aesthetic or functional qualities.

Polysolar believes it has solved the problem of creating a PV film that does not distort, tint, or dim natural light, even though it is not the first company to target windows that can harvest solar energy for commercial use.