s.ky blue information
The Solar Decathlon is a project of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in partnership with DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Electronic Tintable Glazing: 10#
Glass is very beneficial in allowing the space to be visually connected to the outside. It’s also beneficial in allowing the sunlight to enter into the space and heat it up. Unfortunately, when this occurs during the summertime it makes the air conditioning system work harder and uses more electricity.
The s.ky blue team has installed electrochromic or electronically tintable glass in the east, west, and south walls to help offset the detrimental effects of untimely solar heat gain. The use of electronically tintable glass allowed the s.ky blue team another method of “tuning” the house.
When voltage is introduced to the electrochromic layer of the insulated glass units, the windows darken to absorb the sun’s light while heating and reflecting unwanted heat gain away from the home’s interior. Reversing the polarity causes the ions to return to their natural clear state. Our system contains both a fully automated atmospheric controller and manual override switches that are tied to daylight harvesting sensors to allow for both flexibility and control.
