The future may seem ordinary window, which may be filled with innovative technologies and capabilities unlimited, recently a team of engineers at the University of Jena in Germany developed a new type of glass, called 'LaWin' a large area of liquid glass windows, the use of fluid Of the iron particles to block different degrees of sunshine, and get the sun heat, so that the indoor temperature rise.
In the past, solar chromatic windows all used the electrochromic method to change the color or transparency of the glass through the electric signal of the glass inner wire. However, the invention has a similar effect, but in a totally different way, in order to make Fluid windows and suspended magnetic nano-iron particles, the research team will be installed in the liquid glass in the vertical pipeline.
These nanoparticles will gather in the window to block the sun, if you want to make the window transparent, the magnet can be used to extract the particles, and the window design is also equipped with intelligent remote function, press the button to collect solar heat.Researchers said that the system The thermal energy collected is as efficient as other solar thermal equipment and the electrical connection to the electrical equipment is not necessary due to the switching system equipment that extracts the particles in separate reservoirs.
Lothar Wondraczek, Ph.D. in glass science at the University of Jena, says that in order to load liquid and heat the windows, new glass materials have been developed, which have large areas of pipes through which liquid can circulate and circulate. Depending on the particle distribution in the liquid, windows Can become gray or even black, can automatically adjust light changes or collect heat, and used in buildings.
At present, the glass prototype size of 200 square meters, the researchers said that the glass can be made to standard size, and even can be made into double or triple glass.But LaWin system production process more complicated than the average glass, the glass needs to load the fluid channel , But also maintain their life expectancy, there is still room for improvement in terms of cost and technology, Wondraczek pointed out that the development of cost-effective large-size window glass is the key.
Wondraczek emphasized that the advantage of large fluid-heated windows is that they can replace air conditioning, daylighting systems, or warm water treatment systems, and the ultimate goal of the study is to reduce the energy costs of buildings and reduce the cost of heating and cooling.
The device is currently funded with EUR 8.1 million and is scheduled to be commercialized by the end of 2018. The prototype program has been released on Advanced Sustainable Systems.
