SBIR Phase I: Vacuum Glass for R10 Windows

Vacuum Insulating Glass (VIG) is like a flat thermos bottle for windows. V-Glass has developed a VIG design, with tiny wire whiskers as pane spacers, that can insulate up to 3X better than triple pane. However, glass is subject to “delayed failure”, and the contact stress between whisker and glass is extremely high. Such damage, whether cosmetic or life-shortening, raises a warranty cost risk that will be a barrier to investors. In this Phase I project, V-Glass will collaborate with the University of Sydney (USyd) to determine if a workable combination of spacer diameter, length and grid pitch can be identified which will allow achieving an R10 window with a life of at least 20 years. Using its prior work evaluating the cylindrical pillars used by most vacuum glass competitors, USyd will extend its expertise to include rolling whisker spacers, a friction-free and low-heat-loss alternative. The testing will be validated by cold weather field testing of an optimized VIG. This work is expected to verify that the V-Glass vacuum glass design can enable an affordable, long-life window having a rating of at least R-10, a goal of the DOE Window Roadmap. Successful development of this new protocol will facilitate commercialization of new Advanced Insulating Glass concepts. Affordable AIG options will reduce national energy use, with commensurate greenhouse gas reduction. No longer will lack of accurate, low-cost, and objective third-party verification of center-of-glass U-value be a barrier to investment. A new well-accepted standard will facilitate keeping U.S. firms at the forefront of AIG development, a large and important global market.