Molecular Foundry at Berkeley Lab in California is developing a thick coating for windows that could help absorb heat but let the light inside to keep the rooms bright and cool.
The window coating will have nanocrystals that will absorb infrared rays that produce heat and let the light percolate through into our rooms.
The added advantage with the coating is that it can be charged through electrification by applying low volts. The charge helps change the setting of molecules in the nanocrystals absorb heat and let light pass through over and over again. Not just that it will be able to let limited heat by adjustments to the charge during winters to keep our rooms warm and not freeze us.
The material used in the coating is indium tin oxide in nanocrystal form. The crystals can easily dissolve in liquids and solvents that can be coated on the window. The advantage, the material provides is that it comes pre-charged with electrons and with some volts of extra charge it very conveniently blocks infrared rays that cause heat and warming, letting light rays percolate through the translucent surface.
"If you have a few windows in a room with direct sun on them, its equivalent to running a little space heater, you would actually like that solar energy to come in and help heat the space," said Goudey, an engineer at the Berkeley lab, according to the New Scientist.
Stephen Selkowitz, head of building technologies at Berkeley Lab has said that it costs homeowners about $40 billion a year.
Selkowitz has said that the windows would come into use in 3 years time, but will be expensive.
