Low Cost Nanostructured Smart Window Coatings

Residential and commercial buildings represent a prime opportunity to improve energy efficiency and sustainability worldwide. Currently, lighting and thermal management within buildings account for 20% of the United States yearly energy consumption. The objective of this Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 1 project is to develop a low cost nanostructured smart window coating that reduces building energy consumption by dynamically optimizing solar gain. During this project, Heliotrope will utilize scalable solution processed techniques to create unique nanocomposite electrochromic layers. The novel electrochromic layers will be initially examined for compatibility and performance then subsequently used to construct solid state energy efficient windows. Systematic characterization of the solid state electrochromic device will establish which components in system are performance limiting. Upon successful fabrication, Heliotrope expects to achieve enhanced solar modulation at fast switching speeds. The economic and environmental benefits of using electrochromic windows are clear: reducing one quad of energy use would yield an average savings of $10.6 billion, while eliminating about 21.5 gigawatts of power produced by fossil fuels and saving nearly 59 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. It is estimated that the use electrochromic windows in building can achieve a 50% reduction in peak energy demand and a 30% reduction in overall energy use. Still, current electrochromic windows in the market have not reached their market potential due to their high cost (~$50/ft2). Heliotropes nanocomposite electrochromic windows are based on an innovative design that increases lifetime and performance while reducing production cost. Wide scale adoption of this unique technology will not only enhance market penetration for dynamic windows but establish a new benchmark for performance and cost.