Someone once said that if you prefix the word “herbal” to any product, you can sell them and it doesn’t necessarily have to be good. But if you want to fix the word “smart” before something, it better be good and have some serious tech to back it. After smartphones,smart watches and a series of other smart techs, finally your windows are going to be smart too.
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At the heart of the technology is something called organic semiconductors, a new way to make materials conduct electricity, but only under certain conditions. They are in a complete contrast to the current semiconductors we use, like the ones made out of materials like silicon.
An upstart family of crystalline materials called ‘Perovskites’ are helping build smart windows which can harness solar energy, and keep the room dark in hot summer days and keep it clear on cold days. This technology could soon make buildings with windows that will provide them with energy to boot . In a way , a perovskite window is both a smart window and a solar window rolled in to one.
The perovskites are materials made of a mix of elements with a particular crystalline structure, and solar cells made out of it are just as efficient as any other technology currently in vogue in converting solar energy to electric energy. So if a silicon based solar panels has an efficiency off 25 percent, the perovskites run close with 22 percent. Add to it the fact that the starting materials of the pervoskites are cheaper than existing solar cells.
Back in November 2017, this technology was tested and researchers found that the window became opaque from transparent when the temperature hit 60 degree Celsius. When the heat dissipated , the window became transparent once again. The warmed perovskites can change 11.3 percent of its energy to electricity. There are still many hurdles to cross before we can expect ourselves to have one of these in our bedroom, but we have the best brains working on it.
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