Other News...
sponsored by Richardson Repair

Window coatings can channel energy

Send a link to a friend

[July 11, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Perhaps Johnny Nash should be singing, "I can see energy now."

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a system that turns windows into a solar collector, letting people see clearly while collecting energy.

A coating on the glass channels photons of light to a solar collector around the edge of the window, MIT electrical engineer Marc Baldo and colleagues report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

"We think this is a practical technology for reducing the cost of solar power," Baldo said in a statement.

The glass coatings absorb incoming light and then re-emit the energy into the glass, which conducts it to solar cells. The coatings can vary from bright colors to chemicals that are mostly transparent.

The materials are not expensive and can be added to existing solar panels, the researchers said, adding that they believe the technology could find its way to the marketplace within three years.

___

On the Net:

Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Civic

Restaurant

Computer Repair

Civic

< Top Stories index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor