Market Trends of Solar Power Window Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the Solar Power Window Market according to our research experts:
Residential to Dominate the Market
- The residential sector accounts for a significant share of energy consumption for buildings globally. But the residential buildings, particularly the individual houses, have smaller flat area and lower energy demands. As a result, these homes have been mainly dependent on traditional PV rooftop modules.
- Most of the residential PV demand comes from the western countries, where, due to a relatively lower density of population, the share of individual houses in the residential sector is high. The hotspots for the building-integrated PV demand are also mainly in the western regions.
- The residential sector has a significant potential for the solar window market, and can only be exploited if either the solar windows achieve financial competitiveness with the conventional windows and/or if they achieve efficiency and commercial competitiveness with other BIPV components.
- The success of SwitchGlaze can provide significant opportunities for the market players in exploiting the residential sector. Also, SolarWindow has claimed that the product that they have developed and are about to make available in the market has a smaller payback period than the other BIPV products.
- In September 2018, Taiyo Kogyo Corp. has installed a sunroom using "see-through solar panels" at a private house in Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture. With a transmittance of 10% (visible light), it eliminates the need for lighting during daylight hours. On the other hand, it blocks more than 90% of solar radiation heat, contributing to cooling the room.
- In the short-term, until an unexpected breakthrough with several installations in solar window technology, the residential market is expected to remain in the niche stage.
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Europe to Dominate the Market
- Europe is expected to experience the earliest breakthrough for the technology over the forecast period.
- In 2016, the start-up called Physee – a spin-out company from the University of Delft, have developed a perfectly transparent and aesthetically unobtrusive windows. At first glance, they look like any normal modern windows. However, where an ordinary window reflects 30% of light that reaches its surface, the PowerWindow captures this light for energy generation.
- In July 2017, a Dutch bank in the Netherlands, has installed solar power windows developed by Physee with over 300 square feet. The windows generate enough power to charge a smartphone a few times a day and can’t act as a standalone power source for buildings yet.
- The technology holds a huge and promising potential in European market. The increasing need for the clean energy, government’s focus on reduction of carbon emissions and decreasing available land for installation for conventional solar panels at the load centers, is expected to create the demand for solar power windows over the forecast period, in the region.
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