Page 24 - Glass-Technology International no. 3/2018

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CLEARVUE TECHNOLOGIES digm shift in the way glass will
be used in building construction,
GEARING UP FOR PRODUCTION automobiles, agriculture and special-
ity products,” Rosenberg said in a
OF CLEAR GLASS SOLAR WINDOWS statement this week.
“Glass will no longer be just a com-
Perth-based building-integrated solar ia’s own Dyesol – have been work- ponent of construction but also a
PV company, ClearVue Technolo- ing away at low-cost, commercially renewable energy resource.”
gies, is gearing up to sell its solar en- viable BIPV solutions, including As the company’s website explains it,
ergy harvesting clear glass windows printable perovskite solar cells. the technology uses a special “spec-
around the world, starting with the And Tesla’s Elon Musk is also in on tral filter” film that allows around
company’s impending float on the the game, with his solar roofing tiles 70% of natural light to pass through
national stock market. – although production and installa- the window.
The company, which has devel- tion of these has been delayed, and Meanwhile, around 90% of UV and
oped the technology in conjunction questions linger over their cost and infrared rays are blocked, or reflect-
with the Electron Science Research efficiency. ed by “inorganic nanoparticles” to
Institute (ESRI) at Edith Cowan ClearVue’s patented nanotechnology the edges of the glass, where they are
University, is hoping to raise up to differs from others in that it gener- collected by PV cells that produce
AUD 6 million in an initial public of- ates electricity from a flat, clear sheet electricity.
fering (IPO) on the Australian Stock of glass while maintaining transpar- The company says the windows can
Exchange, launched on 6 March. ency – a quality the company’s ex- currently generate a minimum of
The goal is to sell 25 million shares ecutive chairman, Victor Rosenberg, 30W per square metre, while also
at AUD 0.20c a piece, and a further has described as a game-changer. providing insulation from heat and
5 million shares to cover over-sub- “Nobody actually has got clear cold, and UV control. With further
scriptions. The closing date for the glass,” he said in comments in R&D, they expect generation to
IPO is 6 April, with trading on the March last year. “They’ve got either reach 50W per square metre.
ASX set to begin on 25 April. lines or they’ve got dots, or looks According to Rosenberg, the
The concept of BIPV is nothing new like a chessboard with squares of company is currently at the pre-
– although it is yet to really make solar panels on the glass. development stage, with production
its mark on the global renewables “We are today, I would proudly say, of expected to begin within the next
market. the only commercial-size clear glass two months.
A number of research institutions super building material producer. It plans to initially target customers
and companies – including Austral- “Our technology presents a para- in the agricultural and greenhouse
sectors and in the building and con-
struction industries. It is even work-
ing on a prototype greenhouse that
FENETECH has the ability to generate its own
energy for desalination and lighting.
FENEVISION LINESCANNER “Some of our major milestones have
been in January 2018,” he said.
FOR CARDINAL SHOWER ENCLOSURES “We’ve just signed a collabora-
tion and research agreement with
Nanyang Technological University in
Cardinal Shower Enclosures has installed a FeneTech FeneVision LineScanner Singapore, as well as a university in
at its tempering facility with the overall goal of improving the facility’s manu- Jerusalem. And they will be working
facturing processes by comprehensively tracking errors and imperfections, and on a research leading towards the
producing a higher quality product. printing of solar cells,” he added.
According to Loren Powell, Cardinal’s data administrator handling the imple- The company also has a manufactur-
mentation, the FeneVision LineScanner enables Cardinal to quantify imperfec- ing partner in China called ROCKY
tions, errors and trends and provide historical data that is key to detecting and Glass, which will be making the
correcting potential problems internally. Because of the LineScanner’s speed, its windows initially, Rosenberg said,
addition to the company’s production process does not affect overall production with ClearVue looking to licence the
or lead times, says Powell. product throughout the world.

22 Glass-Technology International 3/2018

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