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Tupcek t1_j1co5tg wrote

Reply to comment by Zinsurin in Paper-Thin Solar Makes Any Surface Photovoltaic by gregnoone

solar windows is tried and failed project
It’s more expensive, it’s much less effective and it blocks much more sun than it generates electricity, pissing off everyone inside.
Sure, you can do it more transparent, but in that case, it generates even less electricity.

IMHO rooftop panels is all we need

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Alias_The_J t1_j1eivyk wrote

Kind of- for skyscrapers especially, glare reduction, excess light mitigation and UV removal are important functions that normally lead to window tinting and indoor window covers anyway. If you can get those effects cheaply enough and in the right proportions, then PV windows could be a viable technology.

They will always be worse than rooftop PV- I wouldn't be surprised if a skyscraper's windows produced less electricity than its rooftop array, due as well to the poor window positioning for PV- but if they're filling multiple functions then they might be worthwhile. It would be like complaining about windows for lighting when LEDs work just as well.

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