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Perth team produces world’s only clear solar glass

 A team of scientists from Edith Cowan University has developed what they say is the world’s first commercially viable clear solar glass. 

 Referred to as energy-harvesting clear glass, the technology has been developed by a team of researchers from the Electron Science Research Institute (ESRI) at Edith Cowan University, in collaboration with Perth-based company ClearVue Technologies.

 The material has already been used to build a self-sufficient bus shelter in Melbourne, and the team are looking to trial the technology in Singapore’s Changi Airport.

 The team is also planning to build an advanced energy efficient glasshouse in Perth.

 One square metre of the glass can produce up to 30 watts of power. It is not the first or only solar glass product on the market, however it is the first of its kind, according to ClearVue founder and chairman Victor Rosenberg.

 “Nobody actually has got clear glass,” he told the ABC.

 “They’ve either got lines or they’ve got dots, or it looks like a chessboard with squares of solar panels on the glass.”

 “We are today the only commercial-size clear glass super building material producer.”

 According to Rosenburg, energy-harvesting clear glass is considered ‘frontier technology’.

 “It gives you daylight in which it lets the light through, it gives you solar control, thermal control, it’s also safety glass and it gives you power,” he said.

 Rosenburg has called for renewable technology producers to work together, as multiple renewable technologies will need to be combined for energy security.

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