How many square metres of a home's facade is exposed to sunlight? Quite a lot you would say. And yet for solar power generation, we only use panels on the roof. Recent research shows that in the near future, we can also start using the facade for this purpose by replacing opaque outer walls with solar glass blocks.
The transparent blocks known as 'Solar Squared' contain multiple optical elements that accurately focus incoming sunlight on an individual solar cell. All cells within one block are interconnected, while the blocks themselves can also be interconnected. This creates a large 'energy surface' from which electricity can be fed to the grid or a battery.
As the glass blocks allow sunlight to pass through and thus illuminate the interior, the blocks can be coloured on the inside. This prevents the temperature in the house from rising unnecessarily. Additional advantage: the thermal insulation of these coloured blocks appears to be better than traditional glass blocks.
The technology for these blocks has been developed by Build Solar, a spin-off from the University of Exeter. The company expects to introduce the solar glass blocks next year.
