Electrochromic Glass; an Electrical Glass Help Control the Amount of Light and Solar Radiation

 

Electrochromic glass (dynamic glass or smart glass) is an electronically switchable glass used for facades, skylights, windows, and curtain walls. The glass helps improve occupant comfort, reduce energy costs, maximize access to daylight and outdoor views, and provide architects with more design freedom. Moreover, electrochromic glass allows the user to control both the heat and light passing through the glass, regulating temperature remotely. It works on the principle of electrochromism, which requires the use of a material that can change color or opacity when a potential difference is applied to a surface. There is an increasing demand for electrochromic glass due to these relative advantages over conventional glass.

Electrochromic glass is made of two or more layers of material that can be thinned and layered like a fingerprint. The layered glass may have one layer which is clear or have another layer that is coated with color. These layers change the light transmission properties of the glass so that certain wavelengths of light are blocked and others pass through easily. This property lets light pass through the glass more quickly than it would with other types of glasses. Smart glass is basically a fancy term for something fancy-sounding that actually has no resemblance to a real thing. In plain English, this means that the way that the window operates depends on the electric charge that is present in the glazing itself.

In essence, smart glass is like solar shingles used in residential homes: it protects the user from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, but does not give any sort of energy savings as a result. There are many applications for this type of glass. It is most commonly found in automobile windows. A car's window is made up of three to five layers of clear plastic film (electrochromic glass) sandwiched between two sheets of plastic or metal. The window must be coated with a thin layer of clear polycarbonate. When it comes to using the particular technology that allows this thin layer to change its color, two types of glasses are generally used. One type of glasses is opaque, meaning that it stops all wavelengths from entering, while the other is semi-opaque, meaning it allows some light to pass though.

The difference is what gives the window its ability to change color - if the light that gets through is too small, the window would appear black-and-white and if the light is too large, the window would turn to translucent, allowing the sun's ultraviolet rays to enter. Electrochromic glass is a material consisting of many different colored glass fibers that are fused together. These fibers reflect ultraviolet light and then allow it to pass through the material to arrive at its destination. The color of the light can be varied using a process called photo-discharge, in which the fibers emit different colors according to the intensity of ultraviolet light. When the light is absorbed, the color of the object or the area where the light is reflected changes.

Moreover, electrochromic glass is a smart solution where solar control is a challenge, including retail spaces, commercial offices, healthcare facilities, museums, classroom settings, cultural institutions, etc. Electrochromic glass maintains access to daylight and outdoor views, which are linked to faster rates of learning and patient recovery, increased productivity, improved emotional wellness, and reduced employee absenteeism.