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See-through solar cells could power your digital signage

Ubiquitous Energy Inc., a provider of transparent photovoltaics, debuted its ClearView Power technology this week at Display Week 2015, the Society for Information Display's international symposium and exhibition, at the San Jose Convention Center, the company said.

June 5, 2015

Ubiquitous Energy Inc., a provider of transparent photovoltaics, debuted its ClearView Power technology this week at Display Week 2015, the Society for Information Display's international symposium and exhibition, at the San Jose Convention Center, the company said.

First-time public demonstrations of Ubiquitous Energy's breakthrough transparent, energy-harvesting technology were set to be showcased June 2 and 3 in the "Innovation Zone" — Display Week's two-day forum featuring live demos of the cutting-edge information display technologies that are driving the world's next-generation display products, according to the announcement.

"Ubiquitous Energy is committed to bringing transparent solar cell technology to market to eliminate the battery life limitations of mobile devices," Ubiquitous Energy co-founder and CEO Miles Barr said in an announcement before the show. "We are excited to be part of the I-Zone and look forward to demonstrating ClearView Power's potential as an efficient energy source for a range of electronic devices that include wearables, tablets, and digital signage."

Implemented as a fully transparent film that covers a device's display area, ClearView Power technology is designed to transmit light visible to the human eye, while selectively capturing and converting ultraviolet and near-infrared light into electricity to power the device and extend its battery life. Previous attempts to develop see-through solar cells have resulted in "only modest transparencies," according to the company, which says its ClearView Power is "the first truly transparent solar technology that can overlay the surface of an electronic display without affecting device performance or display clarity."

"Displays and batteries are getting better, but we believe mobile device makers will be looking to harvest energy during operation to stretch time between charges," said Bob Raikes, principal at Meko Ltd., commenting in the Ubiquitous Energy announcement. "An energy-producing transparent coating such as this could be an ideal way to do this."

Ubiquitous Energy was spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the goal of bringing transparent solar technology to market. It is headquartered in Redwood City, California, where it is developing its highly transparent, efficient solar cells at its pilot production facility.