NEXT Energy Technologies, a developer of organic photovoltaic technology, has delivered a glass wall made up of Insulated Glass Units (IGU) to Gensler’s USA HQ in Los Angeles.
For the company, the significance of the delivery lies in the scale of the 27 x 35 product. NEXT Energy Technologies considers the development a step towards full-scale IGU production (60 x 120) of spandrel glass for producing solar energy.
Product features a transparent PV coating which can be used on the windows of business to generate energy, without compromising the structural integrity or design of the building itself.
Additionally, by being self-sufficient with on-site energy, the business relies less on the already strained grid. NEXT claims that businesses using OPV facades offsets 20-25% of a commercial building’s energy and HVAC loads.
On the delivery Andy Cohen, Gensler Co-Chairman, comments:
“Transparent OPV is an innovation breakthrough for architects that will transform the game plan for sustainable buildings in the near future and for net zero construction for decades to come by turning a building’s glass facade into a source of clean, renewable energy.”
Brenton Taylor, CEO of NEXT, adds:
“It’s rewarding to see our technology developed to the point where commercialization can be realised and demonstrated to architects, glass fabricators, and framing system providers NEXT’s OPV ability to scale.”
The project’s partners, who fabricated and designed, and installed the product, included Viracon and Walters & Wolf. The State of California Energy Commission provided funding for the project through a grant.
[Image: NEXT’s OPV technology. Image credit: NEXT Energy Technologies]
