Fabrication of solar and electrically adjustable large area smart windows for indoor light and heat modulation

Abstract

There is an increasing need to develop smart glazed windows with tunable light and temperature to achieve the zero-energy requirements of modern buildings. The existing technologies using indium tin oxide (ITO) heaters are not ideal because of their high cost and poor flexibility. In this study, a large area smart window has been fabricated with commercially available thermochromic pigments and gels in combination with invisible mesh electrodes as alternative to ITO with comparable optoelectronics properties. The chosen thermochromic materials not only control visible light transmission across this window but also infrared radiation. The device configurations and the low cost materials and processes developed will be appealing to further industrial applications.