Professor Huijun Zhao, director of Griffith’s Centre for Clean Environment and Energy has invented what is called a “smart window”.
The $1 million research project promises a new kind of low-cost, energy-saving window which could revolutionize the energy industry.
The Australian Government has funded the project through the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Projects scheme with the total grant being given for this project totaling $513,210.
Professor Zhao and his team will now develop the low-cost and scalable synthesis of functional nanomaterial’s that make smart windows work.
On a release of Griffith University’s news website Dr Zhao saying,
“With the advancement of materials science and the Internet of Things, smart windows will be more prevalent and will be important in building automation and energy management.”
“A smart window can offer several dynamic functions such as self-cleaning, thermochromics and solar-harvesting, and user-controlled functions such as heating, electrochromics, and interactive display.”
The smart window technology in use
Professor Zhao also talked about the energy saving the smart window technology could provide by reducing the reliance on air conditioning, artificial light and heating.
The research is also helping to commercialize the materials so the technology can be further adopted in the glass manufacturing industry as well as promoting environmental sustainability.
Australian Research Council (ARC) Acting Chief Executive Officer, Ms Leanne Harvey speaking on the announcement saying,
“It is always exciting to see the ARC Linkage Projects scheme bringing together university researchers and industry to collaborate on innovative research and development projects, such as this one.”
“I wish Professor Zhao and his collaborators all the best and look forward to seeing the beneficial outcomes that will arise from this research.”
This is not the first solar capable Energy Matters has reported on.
How to get into the Internet of Things
Energy Matters’ parent company, Flex, is pioneering the latest connected home technologies to help connect households into the Internet of Things and that is one of the reasons why Wink is also under in its extensive catalogue of products.
As one of the most adopted smart home platforms in the world, Wink is already helping connect more than 2.3 million IoT products through the Wink platform and is expected to soon be available in Australia.
