AGC and Ubiquitous Energy announce strategic development agreement for transparent solar glass
June 28, 2018 – AGC (Asahi Glass), the world’s largest producer of flat glass, has entered into a strategic development agreement with Ubiquitous Energy, the leader in transparent solar technology. The collaboration will focus on the development of Ubiquitous Energy’s transparent and color neutral solar coating to create windows that produce electricity.
Ubiquitous Energy’s transparent solar coating, ClearView Power™, selectively absorbs and converts non-visible light (ultraviolet and infrared) to electricity while transmitting visible light. Additionally, ClearView Power™ doubles as a solar control coating in addition to its electricity generation by blocking infrared light that is commonly known as solar heat. The transparent solar coating can be applied to vertical surfaces of buildings, turning traditional windows into highly energy efficient and electricity generating windows that are aesthetically pleasing and acceptable to architects, designers, and occupants.
Applied directly to glass using standard glass coating equipment, ClearView Power™ is a highly transparent, color neutral coating. Using standard thin film coating equipment will enable leveraging of the more than 8 billion square meter per year annual global glass production capacity. This novel and patent protected technology will provide a truly transparent energy harvesting solution to the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) market enabling zero net energy buildings and beyond.
“As world leader in glass and glass coatings, AGC is an ideal partner for us. Their experience in bringing advanced glass and BIPV technologies to the market will help us accelerate the development and commercialization of our transparent solar technology,” said Ubiquitous Energy Founder and CEO, Miles Barr. “The architectural glass market has shown great interest in adopting our technology to enable next-generation transparent, power-producing windows.”
“We have been watching Ubiquitous Energy since its beginning and believe that this collaboration will fit in perfectly with our strategy of providing the best environmentally friendly glass solutions,” said Marc Van Den Neste, CTO, Building & Industrial Company of AGC. “By creating aesthetically pleasing, transparent, power-producing glass, we will equip designers and architects with a BIPV solution that is beautiful and seamlessly integrated.” Masatoshi Ueno, AGC Ventures, a corporate venturing arm of Asahi Glass, added: “We are thrilled by supporting Ubiquitous Energy as a partner as it opens up new horizons for making the best environmental use of façades.”
About Ubiquitous Energy
Ubiquitous Energy, the leader in transparent photovoltaics, is a Silicon Valley company developing the world’s first truly transparent solar technology. Originally spun out from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ubiquitous Energy is implementing its award-winning ClearView Power technology into a wide range of products as an invisible, onboard source of electricity. ClearView Power selectively converts ultraviolet and infrared light into electricity, allowing visible light to pass through. Applied as a thin coating, ClearView Power can turn windows into solar panels without disrupting the view. The company has raised more than $25 million to date, and is currently partnered with global glass manufacturers to prepare ClearView Power for mass production. For more information visit http://www.ubiquitous.energy.
About Asahi Glass Company
AGC Asahi Glass (also called AGC, Registered Company name: Asahi Glass Co., Ltd., Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Takuya Shimamura) is the parent company of the AGC Group, a world-leading glass solution provider and supplier of flat, automotive and display glass, chemicals, ceramics and other high-tech materials and components. Based on more than a century of technical innovation, the AGC Group has developed a wide range of cutting-edge products. The AGC Group employs some 50,000 people worldwide and generates annual sales of approximately 1.5 trillion Japanese yen (€ 11.5 billion) through business in about 30 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.agc.com.
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