Buildings and homes are set to become renewable energy powerhouses thanks to rooftop solar and, now, solar windows, skylights and façades. Energy Source & Distribution sits down with Martin Deil, CEO of ClearVue Technologies, whose patented solar glass is leading the charge.
ClearVue was founded in 1995 under the name Tropiglas to develop energy-efficient glass coatings. In 2011, the company partnered with the Electron Science Research Institute at Edith Cowan University in Perth to develop the core IP that integrates micro and nano particles interlayer into glass panels, enabling energy harvesting by solar strips while preserving the transparency of the glass.
ClearVuePV solar glass diverts ultraviolet and infrared light from the sun to the edges of the glass, where thin strips of solar cells turn it into electricity. The visible light goes through the glass, making a clear window that is identical to a regular one.
“While there are other solar glass manufacturers on the market, ClearVue offers the only completely transparent large-format solar glass to use in building construction,” CEO Martin Deil explains.
“Our solar glass not only offers more aesthetically pleasing options for architectural design, but achieves high energy efficiency solutions as well.
Related article: Aussie solar glass gets fire safety and high-rise tick
“Solar glass can be used in windows, skylights, greenhouses, and façades. It provides energy to power autonomous features or to feed into a grid or battery storage.”
With an extensive business background in the façade and architectural design space, Deil joined the now global business back in May 2023, and since then ClearVue has secured a number of distribution deals and partnerships both overseas and in Australia.
“The journey has been great. Working with such a committed and highly motivated team as well as our partners is very exciting and has already proven to be quite successful,” he says.
“We have made significant progress in recent months toward commercialisation, laying the groundwork for sustained long-term growth.”
Solar building envelope solution
There’s the obvious comparison of how ClearVuePV stacks up against rooftop solar, in which Australia boasts considerable uptake. However, Deil says solar glass has two big advantages over traditional rooftop solar.
“Our products can generate electricity across all surfaces of a building, not just the roof. The electricity generated from rooftop solar is naturally limited to size of the roof—there are only so many solar cells a rooftop can hold. And the taller the building, the less roof-to-building surface ratio there is. Our technology offering can generate electricity from all surfaces of a building, including vertical. This is what we refer to as our total solar building envelope solution,” he says.
“How do we do this? I’ve already mentioned our ability to generate high-output solar energy on clear glass. We also offer solar cladding and spandrel products, offering energy generation without compromising appearance. Together, these three products—solar glass, solar cladding and spandrel solution—create our solar building envelope.
The second advantage, Deil explains, is aesthetics. ClearVue solar products can be made to look like glass, stone, marble, metal as well as regular glass.
“For architects and building owners, this is a tremendous aesthetic advantage. There is increasing pressure on the construction and building sector to increase energy efficiencies to meet current and incoming sustainability targets. To achieve stringent net zero targets, buildings will need to generate renewable energy from all available surfaces—rooftops alone are simply not sufficient,” he says.
“This is the ClearVue solution: our products provide the construction and building sector with a tangible path to net zero.”
Major milestones
Since its global expansion, ClearVue has hit some significant milestones. Most recently, its clear solar glass has passed fire safety testing, allowing the technology to be used in high-rise buildings as well as high-risk environments such as hospitals, schools, and hotels.
“This test result is a game changer for the construction industry, particularly given the intense scrutiny of building materials globally since the fatal 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London,” Deil explains.
“Our solar glazing unit has met stringent classifications for non-combustibility, little or no smoke propagation, and no flaming droplets (which contribute to the fire load and fire growth under the condition of a fully developed fire).
“It is extremely rare, if not unheard of, for building integrated photovoltaic façade solutions to achieve fire safety ratings of these exhaustive and exacting standards. It also means no specific fire engineering is needed in the building construction. As a result, the construction of the building needs no modification to deploy solar glazing and gain the benefits of onsite renewable energy generation. With this certification, our solar glass can be used in a broad range of buildings due to its excellent fire safety performance.”
ClearVue also recently landed its first commercial contracts in the US and Australia.
“Our contract for solar greenhouses in the US opens an opportunity in global solar greenhouse glass currently worth US$7.5 billion per year and growing,” Deil says.
“Back home, we signed a commercial contract for ClearVuePV solar windows to be incorporated into the CFMEU Training and Wellness Centre façade in Melbourne. This is the first building to have our products incorporated into the project design, showing the value that architects are placing on smart building materials that improve energy efficiency.
“These contracts were secured following validation of our technology by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority, confirming our clear solar glass exceeds the performance ‘Greenmark Platinum’ rated double-glazed low-e product and generates electricity, and earlier testing proving the mass manufacturing capability of ClearVue windows.”
The company has also expanded its global footprint through manufacturing and distribution agreements with leading companies in the US, Singapore, South Africa and Australia. These partnerships have already yielded results, notably with 8G Solutions in the US.
Led by ClearVue’s US-based non-executive director Chuck Mowrey, 8G in January brought ClearVue together with vacuum-insulated glazing supplier LuxWall to develop a combined prototype called Zero Window, which is expected to be the most energy-efficient and energy-generating window on the market.
“Our partnership with LuxWall takes us to the next level,” Deil says.
“LuxWall specialises in vacuum insulated windows, which provide the best thermal performance and minimise energy use. Our technology will enhance the thermal performance of LuxWall’s windows even further, and generate electricity at the same time.
“By combining our respective technologies, we hope to transform the way buildings are designed and constructed. We’ve called it the ‘Zero Window’ as it will help buildings reach net zero by reducing operational carbon through both thermal insulation and power generation. We expect the Zero Window to be in high demand given regulatory tailwinds in the US and indeed around the world that will see the construction and building industry embrace renewable energy solutions.”
Local manufacturing for global markets
Deil says ClearVue’s products can be incorporated into insulated glass units locally anywhere in the world.
“We work with local IGU manufacturers, providing them a licence for our technology, and supply the essential components and know-how. The solar glazing units are made locally, lowering the shipping costs and carbon emissions.
“To reduce shipping time, we will obtain essential components from suppliers around the world. We plan to start developing our main proprietary component—PVB interlayer with special micro and nano particles—in a lab in Western Australia.”
Related article: Solar glass and glazing firms collaborate on ‘Zero Window’
Having laid the groundwork to scale commercialisation, Deil says he anticipates strong momentum in projects throughout 2024 as building owners and architects see the real-world performance of ClearVue’s technology.
Completed projects include the Warwick Grove atrium, which was the first commercial installation of ClearVue’s solar glass, back in 2019. The atrium features a 26-square-meter solar skylight that generates electricity from the sun while providing natural light. To date, this installation has generated 1.7MWh of power.
ClearVue solar glass has also been used in greenhouses at Murdoch University in Western Australia and one at a commercial farm in Japan, both constructed in 2021.
“Our focus over the coming year will be to continue to build the necessary infrastructure to allow the business to scale in a controlled manner, manage our sales pipeline to match our existing capabilities and reinvest in our R&D strengths to ensure we maintain our competitive advantage in our industry,” Deil says.
