Researchers of Mit – Massachussetts Institute of Technology – are studying a system to produce solar energy using residential glass instead of silicon photovoltaic cells.
In the future, each window of each house could become a source of electricity. Thanks to a transparent paint to apply to the windows, the glass panes become sheets of optical fiber able to attract the light and transport it to the photovoltaic cells installed in the window frames, with an efficiency of 81% and with greatly reduced costs.
In fact, since 2008, researchers of Mit – Massachussetts Institute of Technology – have been studying a system to produce solar energy using residential glass instead of silicon photovoltaic cells. The aim is that of reproducing – on a small scale – a technique in widespread use in thermodynamic solar power plants, such as the Italian Archimede plant, where sunlight is transformed into heat by means of convex mirrors and then into electricity.