Solar Photovoltaic Vacuum Glazing: Transforming Buildings from Energy Consumers to Prosumers

Solar photovoltaic vacuum glazing (SPVG) consists of three layers of glazing. Solar cells are integrated within the glazing assembly to generate electricity. While support pillars are employed to separate the glazing layers, an alloy material is used to seal the edges, thereby forming a vacuum gap with high thermal insulation.

Consequently, this structure features several advantages as follows:

1. On-site electricity generation, which offsets grid electricity consumption and reduces reliance on fossil fuels.
2. Reduced heating and cooling loads due to the high thermal insulation performance and shading effect of the solar PV vacuum glazing, thereby lowering overall energy demand and associated carbon emissions.
3. Glare mitigation resulting from the shading effect of the integrated solar cells.
4. Noise attenuation enabled by the presence of the vacuum gap.
5. Enhanced fire safety, achieved by replacing conventional building insulation materials with non-combustible tempered glazing.
6. Lower embodied carbon emissions through prefabricated production, which reduces on-site construction activities.

It can be used for windows, walls, skylight in buildings and sunroof in vehicles and other applications.