#Smart windows

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Rice University researchers have developed a smart material that adjusts its transparency with changes in temperature, outperforming similar materials in terms of durability, transparency and responsiveness. The new polymer blend could significantly enhance energy efficiency for indoor space cooling, according to a new study published in Joule. Cooling off can be a matter of life or death, but air conditioning -- when and if available -- already accounts for 7% of the world's energy use and 3% of carbon emissions. With temperatures hitting record highs and heat waves growing more frequent worldwide, the need for more efficient ways to keep indoor temperatures in check has also grown more urgent. One way to mitigate the issue involves coating windows with materials that keep heat out while still allowing light to pass through. One such class of materials is thermochromics, yet existing varieties are still too expensive and short-lived to make a feasible choice for use in buildings, vehicles and wherever else needed.

Read more.

[nuadox]

Off the roof: The quest to harness energy from facades

- By Jack Mcgovan , Horizon -

In social housing on the outskirts of the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, Renske Crone was delighted with an experiment in 2022 involving her apartment: it was outfitted with panels that produced energy from the Sun.

But her new equipment was distinctly different from the solar panels – also known as photovoltaic modules – visible on countless rooftops in Europe and elsewhere. Instead of producing electricity, as photovoltaic modules do, Crone’s panels supplied thermal energy and were installed on the facade of the building.

Thermal thrill

The grey panels, coated with aluminium and resembling laminate flooring, took up 15 square metres. As a result of the test, Crone’s home and water got heated with renewable power instead of polluting natural gas – even on cloudy days – and energy bills fell.  

The ‘house is energy-positive, free from gas, with a net-zero energy bill,’ said Crone, who has since moved to another home. ‘Who doesn’t want that?’

The new energy technology emerged from a research project that received EU funding to make use of all buildings’ external surfaces rather than just rooftops to generate power. Called Envision, the project ran for five years through September 2022.

The initiative reflects stepped-up EU efforts to reduce buildings’ emissions of greenhouse gases as part of the fight against climate change. Buildings account for around 36% of emissions in Europe and are part of an EU renovation wave.  

In the EU, roughly half of buildings’ facades are unused.

Infrared band

The bands of radiation that reach the Earth’s surface from the Sun include visible light, infrared and ultraviolet.

Whereas regular solar panels make use of visible light, those on Crone’s home relied on the infrared spectrum and didn’t require the external wall to be orientated in any particular direction. Visible light constitutes roughly 43% of solar radiation while infrared accounts for 50%.

Retrofitting homes so they use both visible light and infrared radiation promises big advances in the harnessing of energy from the Sun. Any external walls can be retrofitted with the Envision technology.

‘With our panels and photovoltaic cells on the roof, you can have sufficient energy to make the house energy-positive,’ said Bart Erich, a research associate in applied physics at Eindhoven University of Technology.

One of the Envision leaders, he said the total surface area of building facades in Europe is roughly the same as that of roofs. 

Tangible progress

Using facades to absorb energy from the Sun would bolster Europe’s already-expanding solar thermal industry, which grew 12% in 2022.

The thermal panels are coupled to a heat pump. In the case of social housing, where space is relatively limited, making room for the heat pump can involve building a shed outside – as was the case for Crone.

With the further addition of a battery that retains heat, the thermal energy can be stored when there’s an excess. 

The prices of such facades range from €150 to €500 per square metre, depending on the type, according to Erich, who said the lifespan is typically 30 years and the return on investment seven to 10 years.

During Envision, the researchers conducted laboratory research, built a site at Eindhoven University of Technology to test the idea and ran demonstrations at homes including Crone’s.

In 2022, the team was a finalist in the innovation category of the European Sustainable Energy Awards, which recognise projects and people advancing the transition to cleaner energy.

Since Envision ended, the technology has gathered momentum. Erich is the chief technology officer of a spinoff company called Calosol that is commercialising the panels.

IKEA-style DIY

Calosol aims eventually to build 1 200 square metres of panels, a jump from the 250 square metres produced during Envision. In Crone’s apartment, the 15 square metres were sufficient to meet all her year-round heating needs, according to Erich.

‘In total, the panels produce about the same amount of energy as – or a little bit more than – the house actually uses,’ he said.

Because putting the panels in place is currently a complex undertaking, current research is also seeking to make that step a lot easier. The ultimate goal is to make installation akin to IKEA furniture, according to Erich.

‘That’s where we are – still struggling to get the installations to the point where everybody can install them,’ he said.

Solar windows

To help buildings extract every possible bit of energy from the Sun, other EU-funded researchers are exploring the option of transparent solar windows to produce electricity.

This project, called CITYSOLAR, began in December 2020 and is scheduled to run through April 2024.

CITYSOLAR aims to deploy photovoltaic technologies that absorb radiation in both the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum. The researchers are trying to minimise the absorption of visible light because windows need to transmit it to the building’s interior and visible light causes panels to take on colour.

But because infrared and ultraviolet light are less efficient at generating electrical energy, a degree of visible light is useful even for solar windows. The trick for the CITYSOLAR researchers is to find the right mix of efficiency, transparency and colour.

Aldo Di Carlo, a professor of nanoelectronics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata who leads the project, cites a greenhouse as an example of where the technology could be especially useful.

Plants mainly need visible light in the red part of the colour spectrum to grow but can do without most other colours. As a result, semi-transparent photovoltaic cells with a red tinge could absorb energy from the Sun while allowing the red visible light through so plants thrive.

Beyond the lab

So far, the technology has been tested only in the lab. A prototype is due to be created in early 2024 at South Denmark University.

The prototype will play a central role in testing the technology for further development on the way to possible eventual commercialisation.

In the longer term, the CITYSOLAR researchers want to make zero-energy buildings as much a reality as possible. That requires the full-scale retrofitting of transparent or semi-transparent surfaces with the technology being developed.  

For residential buildings, a further challenge will be figuring out the right efficiency-to-transparency ratio – a task that will require yet more research.  

‘We need to use our best science to combat climate change and that means researching technologies like transparent solar cells,’ Di Carlo said.

Research in this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don’t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission.

This post Off the roof: the quest to harness energy from facades was originally published on Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine | European Commission.

--

Read Also

A novel energy-saving glass that ‘self-adapts’ to heating and cooling demand (video)

[glasstinte-smart-glass]

The inspirations of smart glass technology for interior design.

[thenewsfactsnow]

Indian Researchers develops new tech to make smart windows a reality

Smart Windows that are both private and energy-efficient are now possible. A team of researchers at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Science in Bengaluru, India, has developed a new technology that could revolutionize the way we think about smart windows. The technology, which is based on a novel protocol for confinement of liquid crystals in an architecture called hierarchical double…

[choccy-milky]

modern AU seb and clora's first interaction 📘📗 (and by modern AU i actually mean super trope-filled high school romance set in the 80's/90's LOL)

[stars-n-kites]

really an inexplicable train of thought but i feel like taako is the kind of person who in a modren era au would just decide to go to a shooting range and learn how to shoot a pistol for funsies, but would consider learning to spin the pistol all cool like they do in cowboy movies to be his first and foremost priority. like hes already bought a holster and the moment he is given a gun he immediately starts trying to twirl it. the instructor has to tell him to stop or theyll take the gun away from him. he keeps trying to lead the conversation back to it anyway because he really feels like theyre putting the cart before the horse here if hes learning how to shoot the gun before even knowing how to dramatically reholster it if he were to get in some sort of cowboy duel. hes actually really good at the shooting part but he gets kicked out of the class after his eighth guntwirling attempt in which he accidentally flicks the safety off mid twirl and shoots one of their light fixtures

[lukazade]

These kids are NOT studying rn

[ouchpotatoex]

"Charles... Is this how the dream dies?" "No. Not like this. Not today."

[feligayzed]

tusslin'

[elviraaxen]

What world has Donna just awoken to!? Where is she? Who is this "Richard?" and why is he so angry?

Another update to the little personal project that now has an official name; Felt World! I hope you like it, both the name and this update!

I'll link the first post I made down below so that they can be read in the correct order, as this one takes place before the previous upload.

NEXT

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Multispectral smart window: A step toward healthier indoor environments

Windows, the vital conduits between indoor spaces and the external environment, also serve as primary entry points for harmful light waves and electromagnetic (EM) waves. However, managing light transmission and scattering typically requires different material systems and devices. Additionally, a critical aspect often overlooked in smart window technology is EM modulation. Therefore, windows capable of visible light regulation and EM shielding are becoming an urgent necessity. In a new paper titled "Multispectral smart window: Dynamic light modulation and electromagnetic microwave shielding," published in Light: Science & Applications, a team of scientists led by Professor Jiaqi Zhu from Infrared Films and Crystal introduces an innovative multispectral smart window capable of regulating visible light while simultaneously blocking microwave signals.

Read more.

[pressplay-if]

So I was just talking with my friend and I said to them

"Sometimes, I think I'd like to be more feminine.

But what even is feminism?"

[trekkerac]

tripping and falling and stumbling is how i code

[ministarfruit]

day 7: come back soon ♡

(femslashfeb prompt list)

[swordy-da-goat]

My osc gift exchange for @mumpsetc

Very neat character 🖥️🌼

[gavv-hannah]

i am So Well about your kuon/hoeru stuff thank u for the food . do u have any........ headcanons or additions to their relationship , im curious to hear . we are such a small group of freaks (positive)

ahaha sorry when you said a small group I just imagined a group gathering at tea time talking about favorite brocon fics/HCs/happenings with one another. Does such commune of freaks exist in the toku fandom T_T)? If so let me iiiiiiiin *rattling cage bars*

Anyway,

Thank you thank youuu anon for enjoying my food!! This is my first sentai rodeo so im always worried about not drawing/depicting/characterizing/whatever-ing them so you and anyone else enjoying my gozyu stuff means a lot to meeeee T_T

Now i say that but um.. So all of these are exaggerated well enough to cater to my gozyu brocon needs LMAO so if its OOC..... i bow deeply to say sowwy

(thoughts, words, stuff below read more)

+ they're codependent. Back then, and even now (but Hoeru's growing out of it. Kuon isn't) idk what their home life is like to make them be like that tho so uhm *insert bullshit reason*

+ they have a skewed sense of what's normal/appropriate between brothers. Probably weren't reprimanded/corrected as kids so they just kept doing it. What's sweet as kids is kinda weird now as adults~ idk something like having no sense of personal space or boundaries.

I like this one cz i can just imagine hoeru sharing smth he did with kuon to the gozyu team and everyone's just in shock with their kind of brotherly love mmcmfmd

Very delusional scenario but if they still got along after reuniting as adults, they'd probably take baths together ❤️ Though hoeru's starting to mature so he'd probably say smth like how this is smth they shouldn't be doing but kuon coerces him to stay in the bath longer with him anyway~

Sorry really vague and no concrete examples (can't think of one for brothers-to-brothers, only for sisters-to-sisters mfmfmd) but you get my point right 🥹?

+ Kuon's feelings, worries, and thoughts abt his brother were warped to be super intense after the No One World abduction

examples:

- that thing where older siblings feel a little sad when they notice how much their younger sib is growing and starting to want to be independent -> warping to -> Kuon not wanting Hoeru to leave him AT ALL

- that familial love for your sibling -> sick kind of love and obsession for hoeru. ("Hoeru's my love, my hope, my puppet" uhm! Ok!! Whatever you say Mr. Freaky!)

- Younger siblings being your responsibility. You're their teacher, their second parent, their most available guide (eldest child in an Asian household things ❤️) -> Hoeru grew up to have beliefs that dont align with Kuon's. Kuon thinks he is misguided and wrong. He's the only one that can set him right.

+ As kids, Kuon's praises and sweet touches would be like liquid gold to hoeru. Even if they have a weird relationship now, I'm pretty sure if Kuon praised him, Hoeru would feel like putty inside. It's hard to break off from old wants 🫶

+ not an HC but do you know the whole thing the mom and daughter in EEAAO had? The daughter in the "Alpha universe" was pushed to the limit to be excellent that she became a nihilist and wants to destroy the universe. She seeks out for her mom in this one universe who is awful at everything because she has the greatest potential (the whole "you suck so much that you have nowhere to go but up" thing) and is the only one capable of foiling her universe-ending plans.

The womanfailure mom = Hoeru

The powerful nihilist daughter = Kuon

Do you see the vision? Mfmfmfmfmdmd

~~~

This got long sorry!!! I hope you got what you asked from me Anon Q_Q it's probably unoriginal lbr pretty sure some other 5head fan already said these things about the tono brothers in like, a more comprehensible way ahahzhshzhs but still thank you for reading up to this point u_u lemme know what you think! If you got some HCs share em!