RECENT PROGRESS IN SOL-GEL DERIVED ELECTROCHROMIC DEVICES

B. Orel, A. Šurca , U. Opara Krašovec

National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract

The future energy saving requirements placed on modern buildings will require that windows will have to meet higher standards, including: being able to reduce heat-loss while avoiding overheating of the building and gaining solar energy while assuring comfortable daylighting. These conflicting demands can be satisfied by using switchable or "smart" windows, the optical properties (transmittance and reflectance), of which can be varied between low and high transmitting states. This could be done either manually or automatically by the building’s own energy management system. We report our progress towards making electrochromic devices for switchable "smart" window applications. The future development of the next generation of switchable windows is addressed.