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ASX-listed Solar glazing innovator ClearVue Technologies has picked up the “Most Innovative Solution” gong at Greenbuild 2024, the biggest annual event for green building professionals worldwide, following a people’s choice innovation online seminar.
The webinar, which invited a live audience to vote for the best solutions, shone a light on its integrated solar façade system which the company says is a sustainable game-changer for net zero building initiatives.
A visual showing the various applications for ClearVue Technologies’ innovative integrated solar glazing product.
The company believes the award will also almost certainly help lift its profile at the upcoming Greenbuild International Conference and Expo being held in Philadelphia in two weeks’ time in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council.
ClearVue’s product line, which includes transparent solar vision glass, cladding, railings and skylights, has been designed to convert conventional building exteriors into energy-generating glass façades.
‘We see extending the solar energy generation to the façade as a means of exponentially increasing the surface area available for solar.’
ClearVue North America President and CEO Chuck Mowrey
Its integrated glazing units (IGUs) are clear, double-glazed glass panels which have a special laminated layer sandwiched in between. The laminated proprietary technology interlayer is packed with nano and microparticles.
When sunlight hits the glass, the layer activates, capturing UV and infrared light. The resulting energy then gets funnelled to thin solar strips embedded around the inner edges of the window. From there, the solar strips work their magic, turning the captured energy into electricity.
ClearVue North America President and CEO Chuck Mowrey said: “We see extending the solar energy generation to the façade as a means of exponentially increasing the surface area available for solar while decreasing the operational carbon footprint of the building envelope.”
Mowrey went on to point out the advantages of expanding solar generation beyond rooftops, which often contend with limited space occupied by air conditioning, plumbing, electrical and other infrastructure. Notably, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings initiative points out the external parts of a building account for almost 30 per cent of the primary energy consumed in that building.