New Energy More Than Doubles Patent Portfolio for Novel Technology Able to Generate Electricity on Glass Windows

New Energy Technologies, Inc. announced that the company has successfully achieved a total of 21 new patent filings for protection of its proprietary SolarWindow technology, more than doubling the portfolio in only 12 months.

“Our technology has the capacity to turn ordinary glass windows in America’s five million skyscrapers and commercial towers into power generators – a huge commercial opportunity,” explained John A. Conklin, president and CEO of New Energy Technologies, Inc. “As we continue to make important strides towards commercial manufacturability of our SolarWindow, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that various patent protections are secured immediately.”

New Energy’s patent filings include a combination of U.S. and international jurisdictions, and cover various methods, materials, and product implementations.

Novel to the company’s technology is its ability to generate electricity on various surfaces when electricity-generating coatings are sprayed or otherwise applied at room temperature, thus lowering production costs and manufacturing time.

SolarWindow generates electricity and remains see-through on glass windows and plastics, similar to commercially-available window tint films. Conventional “thin film” and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels are dark and obscure, nearly impossible to see through.

SolarWindow electricity-generating coatings can be applied using various low-cost production methods, and can even be sprayed on to glass and plastics. This cannot be achieved with traditional PV manufacturing methods.

SolarWindow processing can be performed at room (ambient) temperature and pressure, unlike conventional thin-film PV, which typically requires high temperature and pressure (high negative or high positive pressure) sensitive manufacturing methods that usually add to the high costs of currently-available PV production.

Most conventional PV systems rely on near direct exposure to natural sunlight. SolarWindow technology uses artificial light energy, such as fluorescent lighting typical in office buildings, as well as natural light energy to generate electricity, and is capable of producing electricity with indirect or low-light conditions.

SolarWindow can be applied to all four sides of a building (including shaded areas) and operate during varying weather seasons, in low-light conditions, and from indirect sunlight, unlike current conventional solar PV technologies, which largely depends on near direct exposure to sunlight.

SolarWindow has been shown to generate electricity on flexible plastics, while today’s conventional PV competing technologies are thick and rigid and cannot be similarly applied.