R&D activities are ongoing at ClearVue, aimed at core technology upgrades.

During the Sydney Park barbeque area installation, and also in factory settings, we captured (for technology illustration purposes) the images of the visible part of luminescence being concentrated at glass panel edges, visualising the product performance. The following pictures were taken (left) on the roof of Sydney Park installation, with natural sunlight exciting the glow; (right) a photo taken at factory during outdoor performance checks.

The green tail of luminescence spectrum is visible to the eye; the other wavelengths are peaking at a near-infrared (invisible) wavelength; these are known features of our functional materials, it just takes a certain contrast/intensity of solar irradiation to capture it.

Numerous R&D window samples are now being manufactured at our factory, using slightly different components (optical and also electrical) to achieve new product improvements, such as providing improved energy outputs and a broader range of thermal performance parameters.

New and next-generation inorganic functional materials are being investigated to achieve continuous improvements.

New and custom-designed power-tracker electronics systems are being designed (in co-operation with Foresense) to improve the energy harvesting performance of individual multi-functional windows, and the groups of windows arranged for grid energy export. Ways to reduce weight per square metre and improve power output are being investigated continually.

In terms of energy production performance at Murdoch Greenhouse, interesting datasets were collected through Enphase microinverters’ online data interface. During January, a bundle of 12 windows (a 0.4752 kWp part of total installation) mounted on Nth Wall in Room 3 produced 33.9 kWh of energy, versus the predicted 23 kWh. This demonstrated an increase in monthly energy production of 47.4%, compared to the predicted energy production calculated using NREL-certified online calculation tools.

Similarly, for December, the same 12 windows produced 35.3 kWh of energy versus the predicted 23 kWh. An increase of 53.5%. During November of 2021, the same 12 windows produced 35.4 kWh of energy versus the predicted 24 kWh. An increase of 47.5%. Overall, due to measuring these PV Energy Yield data, we now have increased confidence in the competitiveness of ClearVue solar windows in BIPV markets.

The energy yields in all conventional BIPV products generally follow the online-calculator predictions to within 10-15%, and the reason ClearVue solar windows show strong increases in energy production is due to internally 3D-structuring the glazing system design to capture light from oblique angles, rather than using a single-plane energy conversion strategy.