Accelerating the Manufacturing of Energy Generating Windows for Zero-Emission Buildings Leveraging Pilot Scale Innovations
Next Energy Technologies
Recipient
Santa Barbara, CA
Recipient Location
21st
Senate District
37th
Assembly District
$2,075,644
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
By the end of 2024, critical equipment installations were successfully completed. This includes both the glass washer as well as the laminator with all associated facilities improvements. Significant progress was made in qualifying both of these tools with all existing equipment. Ongoing work was also done to fabricate, characterize, and test films and devices on 3.5” x 3.5” substrates and 14” x 20” substrates using Benchtop R&D Coaters to support Large Area Assembly. Progress was made in process control for scalable assembly processes. This component of the project has been very successful in defining initial key process inputs and the associated parameter ranges for the Large Area Assembly with Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) goals. This continuous effort will proceed into the subsequent year.
The Issue
Buildings account for 41% of US energy use, representing the single largest variable operating expense for commercial buildings. A growing number of developers are building to green/sustainability standards, and regulatory regimes are increasingly driving toward net zero energy buildings. Under the California Efficiency Strategic Plan, all new commercial buildings in California are to be designed to zero net energy standards by 2030. Additionally, the California solar mandate requires new construction homes to have solar installed as an energy generation method as of January 1, 2020. In light of these mandates, substantial progress has been made making buildings more energy efficient, but the missing link to meeting the goals remains the lack of options for onsite clean energy generation, particularly for commercial buildings. For example, multilevel commercial buildings often do not have enough free rooftop space for conventional solar panels to offset their energy consumption. Next Energy Technologies (NEXT) seeks to address this issue by developing power-generating window lites that can be incorporated into insulated glass units (IGUs) that can be directly installed on the vertical façade of commercial buildings, generating significantly more power generating capacity per building than rooftop photovoltaic systems alone.
Project Innovation
This project advances the manufacturing capability of NEXT's power-generating window product from lab- and pilot-scale tools and processes to a low rate initial production (LRIP) manufacturing line. The project leverages the organic photovoltaic coatings that were a focus of the earlier EPIC BRIDGE Agreement EPC-20-014 and assembles coated substrates into packaged photovoltaic modules, insulated glass units, and ultimately into building façade installations. The specification and qualification of the assembly and packaging tools that comprise the LRIP manufacturing line are key steps to progress the manufacturing readiness state from lab-built prototypes to LRIP units.
Project Goals
Specify, build, and install tools for assembly of window–PV units.
Utilize LRIP tools to assemble coated lites into PV units
Full module assembly.
Build and test a window-PV modules.
Outline a plan for full rate production with outcomes from LRIP installations.
Project Benefits
This Agreement will lead to technological advancement and breakthroughs to overcome barriers to the achievement of the State of California’s statutory energy goals by rapid innovation of low-cost energy generating windows. This breakthrough technology converts infrared light into electricity allowing windows to look and function as high performance Low-Emissivity windows, while also generating significant clean energy. The accomplishments of this project will remove some last barriers between current pilot scale and low rate initial production. This project will accelerate commercialization of the NEXT window product and help to meet the state’s statutory energy goals. The technology will be key part of the solution to decarbonize the electricity sector, expand the use of renewable energy, increase the resiliency of the electric system and cities to the impacts of climate change, and ultimately assist the State of California in meeting its statewide carbon neutrality goal.
Reliability
Reliability
Greater reliability will be achieved by enabling net zero energy buildings by providing onsite energy generation to buildings. This will allow ratepayers, pursuant to the new California building code, to have reliable energy in all new buildings equipped with on-site energy generation and energy storage, even during rolling blackouts, and will reduce demand on California’s energy grid.
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental Sustainability
The Recipient’s product will also help increase the health and safety of California ratepayers by significantly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Buildings are responsible for about 25 percent of California’s total GHG emissions.4 The Recipient’s technology will address the missing ingredient for zero- and negative emission generation buildings of clean onsite energy generation.
Key Project Members
Brenton Taylor
CEO
Next Energy Technologies, Inc.
Corey Hoven
CTO
Next Energy Technologies, Inc.
Bruno Caputo
Director - Large Area Coating
Next Energy Technologies, Inc.
Jeff Horowitz
Director, Business Development & Partnerships
Next Energy Technologies, Inc.
Match Partners
Next Energy Technologies
