PFI-TT: Smart windows for on-demand control of solar heat and daylight

该创新-技术转化合作伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是通过使建筑窗户和汽车玻璃“智能”并能够按需控制热量和采光来彻底改变它们。自然照明可以提高幸福感，并可以减少人工照明的能源消耗。开发中的玻璃将在需要时变暗其色调，以避免不舒服的眩光，同时保持视野。阳光也以热量的形式将能量带入建筑物和汽车，特别是通过天窗。虽然太阳能加热可以提高寒冷天气的能源性能，但正在开发的智能玻璃还可以阻止不必要的加热，以减少空调所需的能源。为了实现能源效率的显著提高，智能玻璃技术必须广泛部署，这需要低成本制造。通过在大面积的玻璃或塑料上涂覆油墨中的活性材料，将实现可扩展的低成本加工。通过控制光和热，并实现低成本制造，该项目将通过提高舒适度和减少不必要的能源消耗来重塑窗户的功能和性能。拟议项目将通过使用低压控制器按需单独控制太阳能热增益和采光，解决现有智能窗户的性能限制。该项目将通过允许基于溶液的涂层而无需高能量处理步骤，进一步大幅降低智能窗户的制造成本。氧化铌的纳米晶体将被涂覆在玻璃和塑料薄膜上，以开发和验证刚性和柔性电致变色器件的性能。这些原型将展示建筑天窗和窗户以及汽车玻璃应用的可行性，以提高能源性能和舒适度。为了克服技术开发和部署的障碍，项目团队将开发一种聚合物电解质配方，该配方在弯曲过程中提供足够的机械稳定性，以避免电气短路，同时保持快速的光学开关和开关循环稳定性。将选择并验证透明导电基板，其在切换期间支持均匀着色，允许进入高红外透射状态，并在薄膜处理和器械组装期间保持良好的导电性。将确定原型对UV暴露和热循环的环境稳定性。通过达到性能和稳定性的里程碑，该项目将实现这种双频智能窗技术的商业潜力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to revolutionize building windows and automotive glass by making them “smart” and able to control heat and daylighting on-demand. Natural lighting improves well-being and can reduce energy consumption for artificial lighting. The glass under development will darken its tint when needed to avoid uncomfortable glare while maintaining the view. Sunlight also brings energy in the form of heat into buildings and cars, especially through sunroofs. While solar heating can improve energy performance on cold days, the smart glass under development can also block unwanted heating to reduce energy required for air conditioning. To achieve significant gains in energy efficiency, the smart glass technology must be broadly deployed, which requires manufacturing at low-cost. Scalable, low-cost processing will be achieved by coating the active materials from inks over large areas of glass or plastic. By controlling both light and heat, and enabling low-cost manufacturing, the project will reshape the functionality and performance of windows by enhancing comfort and reducing unnecessary energy consumption.The proposed project will address performance limitations of existing smart windows by separately controlling solar heat gain and daylighting on demand with a low-voltage controller. The project will further enable a dramatic reduction in manufacturing cost of smart windows by allowing solution-based coatings with no high energy processing steps. Nanocrystals of niobium oxide will be coated onto glass and plastic films to develop and validate the performance of rigid and flexible electrochromic devices. These prototypes will demonstrate feasibility for building skylights and windows, and automotive glass applications to improve energy performance and comfort. To overcome barriers to technology development and deployment, the project team will develop a polymer electrolyte formulation that provides sufficient mechanical stability during bending to avoid electrical short circuits while also maintaining rapid optical switching and on-off cycling stability. Transparent conducting substrates will be selected and validated that support uniform coloration during switching, allow access to a high infrared transmissive state, and remain well-conducting during film processing and device assembly. The environmental stability of the prototypes to UV exposure and thermal cycling will be established. By reaching performance and stability milestones, the project will enable realization of the commercial potential of this dual-band smart window technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.