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

这一创新技术转化伙伴关系(PFI-TT)项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是使建筑窗户和汽车玻璃发生革命性变化，使它们变得“智能”，并能够按需控制采暖和采光。自然采光提高了人们的幸福感，并可以减少人工照明的能源消耗。正在开发的玻璃在需要时会变暗，以避免不舒服的眩光，同时保持视野。阳光还以热量的形式为建筑物和汽车带来能量，特别是通过天窗。虽然太阳能加热可以改善寒冷天气的能源性能，但正在开发的智能玻璃也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，必须广泛部署智能玻璃技术，这需要以低成本制造。通过将油墨中的活性材料涂覆在大面积的玻璃或塑料上，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性和减少不必要的能源消耗来重塑窗户的功能和性能。拟议的项目将通过使用低电压控制器根据需要分别控制太阳能热增益和采光，解决现有智能窗的性能限制。该项目将进一步大幅降低智能窗户的制造成本，使基于溶液的涂层无需高能加工步骤。Nb氧化物纳米晶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。这些原型将展示建造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性。为了克服技术开发和部署的障碍，项目组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，同时还保持快速光学开关和开关循环稳定性。将选择和验证透明导电基板，以支持切换期间的均匀着色，允许进入高红外透射态，并在胶片处理和设备组装期间保持良好的导电性。将确定样机对紫外线照射和热循环的环境稳定性。通过达到性能和稳定性里程碑，该项目将使这种双频智能窗技术的商业潜力得以实现。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.