New Energy’s Spray-On Coatings for Generating Electricity on See-Through Glass and Flexible Plastic Show Superior Durability

New Energy Technologies, Inc. announced that researchers developing and testing its SolarWindow technology, capable of generating electricity on see-through glass and flexible plastic, have demonstrated superior durability of their “spray-on” methodology for applying electricity coatings – important to ensuring a commercially viable product lifecycle.

New Energy’s SolarWindow underwent ongoing stress tests designed to determine the ability of the company’s spray-on electricity-generating coatings to withstand harsh mechanical bending. Upon completion of the tests, scientists concluded that New Energy’s spray-on coatings continued to generate electricity on flexible plastic, despite being subjected to severe mechanical forces. In contrast to the company’s spray-on methodology, conventional spin-coatings methods resulted in immediate breakdown, with test devices failing when subjected to like forces.

“The favorable outcomes from these mechanical stress experiments pave the way for our SolarWindow™ technology as a practical solution for generating electricity on the windows of high-performance commercial buildings that are energy-efficient, healthy, and economical,” explained John A. Conklin, president and CEO of New Energy Technologies, Inc.

Scientists conducted their latest tests of New Energy’s SolarWindow by first applying the company’s see-through electricity generating coatings onto flexible plastic using a spray-on methodology. Unlike temperature and pressure sensitive manufacturing required in the production of other solar-photovoltaic products, New Energy’s electricity-generating coatings are sprayed at room-temperature, making this a first-of-its-kind technology – important to keeping manufacturing costs low.

Researchers then subjected the lab-scale flexible plastic SolarWindow to mechanical bend tests in order to determine “flexural strength.” Bending and flexural strength testing is used to determine whether a material will break or fracture under force or pressure. New Energy’s SolarWindow continued to generate electricity following these tests.

“Today’s favorable results demonstrate the physical strength of our SolarWindow coatings, and are especially encouraging when considering the latest advancements to increased transparency and color of our technology, announced only a few weeks ago,” said Conklin.

In recent weeks, scientists successfully developed a first-ever working SolarWindow prototype using brand new electricity-generating coatings which lead to increased transparency and enhanced color. Researchers coated the glass surface of a working lab-scale prototype with newly-discovered, organic electricity-generating coatings comprised primarily of hydrogen and carbon. These new coatings favorably influence various electronic, electrochemical, and optical properties of SolarWindow, essential to producing a highly transparent and aesthetically pleasing soft window tint and color.