Solar window glass innovator, ClearVue Technologies, is on the brink of breaking into the lucrative US renewable energy market after receiving the all-important UL 61730 Certification for its unique solar window glass technology.
UL’s 61730 Certification is a key requirement for ClearVue to be able to sell its products into the international market given that it fundamentally approves the electrical and mechanical credentials of the product.
It also acknowledges that crucial issues such as electric shock prevention, fire hazards and personal injury due to mechanical and environmental stresses have been addressed.
Based in Chicago, Illinois, UL has offices in 46 countries and is one of a handful of companies approved by the US Government to conduct product safety testing.
UL had been looking at ClearVue’s PV IGU’s electrical safety and overall performance for 12 months before giving the thumbs up to the 61730 Certification.
According to ClearVue, the testing protocol involved was a world-first, requiring UL to initially work with the Perth based ASX listed company to develop a new testing methodology as the PV IGU technology being assessed was in pioneering territory.
Clearvue has developed two unique pieces of technology which, when used together and installed into window glass, act to covert that glass into a solar energy generating window.
The first of Clearvue’s two products is a thin see-through film that acts as a laminate between two pieces of glass and is capable of drawing and distributing energy from the sun.
It distributes that energy to thin “PV” solar strips that act like solar panels when installed around the edges of a window glass pane.
This latest certification involved independently assessing each of the solar PV strips used in the end product, testing the product without the PV strips in place and then testing the complete window units with the PV strips in place.
ClearVue believes this approach will open the way for future testing of subsequent ClearVue module designs that may be different in size or use other solar PV compositions.
ClearVue Executive Chairman Victor Rosenberg said: “The ClearVue PV IGU combines both glazing and solar into the one product and is unlike anything the UL have had to deal with before.”
“Not withstanding this, the UL, with ClearVue assistance, was able to design a very detailed and rigorous testing protocol that has tested all aspects of the product in relation to both its safety and performance with the product meeting all such requirements.”
“The UL certification of the ClearVue product provides peace of mind to architects, facade engineers, developers and building owners when specifying or installing the ClearVue products into major building projects.”
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By Matt Birney
