Windows capable of harvesting energy from the sun have been on the horizon for a number of years, but they’re yet to help cut down a building’s energy costs. A new development from Australian researchers may change that.

The semi-transparent solar cells have been produced by researchers from Monash University and CSIRO (Australia’s national science agency), and led by members of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science. The cells make use of perovskite, which can efficiently convert ultraviolet and visible light into electricity, and feature an organic semiconductor that replaces a hole-transport material known as Spiro-OMeTAD for improved stability. And the design is said to have resulted in a conversion efficiency to rival rooftop solar too.

“Rooftop solar has a conversion efficiency of between 15 and 20 percent,” said Professor Jacek Jasieniak of Exciton Science and Monash University. “The semi-transparent cells have a conversion efficiency of 17 percent, while still transmitting more than 10 percent of the incoming light, so they are right in the zone. It’s long been a dream to have windows that generate electricity, and now that looks possible.”

The researchers say that windows tinted to the same level as current commercial glazing could generate around 140 watts of electricity per square meter. And they reckon that the additional costs of implementing the technology into the kinds of large windows used in multi-story buildings would be marginal.

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