New innovations in solar technology are not just novel anymore; there’s getting to be enough to fill a novel. And yet another solar breakthrough, this one for future use in the home, is the solar curtain. Developed by Sheila Kennedy, an architect and MIT lecturer, solar curtains are membrane-like surfaces that can be used like curtains or draped over roofs and walls as cladding. The curtains utilize nanotechnology and are made up of organic photovoltaic solar cells.

Solar curtains are part of a larger category of which Kennedy is an innovator, solar textiles, and are appealing across a wide range of markets, from clothing to Kennedy’s curtains. As an example of how solar curtains can potentially function in the home, Kennedy unveiled a recent project, dubbed the “Soft House,” in Germany at the Vitra Design Museum. These mobile, sun-tracking curtains can generate up to 16,000 watt-hours of electricity.

Aside from absorbing sunlight and providing electricity for the home’s lighting and appliances, solar curtains can also form an air barrier, adding insulation to the home’s envelope. Now, as of yet organic photovoltaics are less efficient than traditional, silicon-based solar cells. But this will pose no problem for solar curtains, Kennedy claims. Her curtains are unique and deliver a channel for solar nanotechnology that does not compete with the main grid.

Links:

Kennedy & Violich Architecture, Ltd.
MIT Architect Develops Solar ‘Curtains’ for Home
Getting Wrapped Up in Textiles

Photo Credit: MIT News

Posted on July 7th in Solar Products by Dan.