Konarka & Arch Aluminum Unveil Solar Curtain Wall Pilot Project

Massachusetts, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Konarka Technologies Inc. announced that, along with Arch Aluminum & Glass Co. Inc, it has launched the first curtain wall pilot project that will integrate Konarka Power Plastic into a wall structure at Arch's office building in Tamarac, Florida. The solar panels, with the capacity to generate 1.5 kilowatts of power, are expected to be fully operational by year's end. The technology leading installation will advance the development of a colored solar glass panel for integration into a wide range of buildings.

The testing facility includes east and south facing walls with both sunny and shadowed areas. The installation is a living laboratory with full modularity including the ability to simultaneously test a wide range of panels under various conditions. The curtain wall is an array of solar panels, glass and aluminum, with a peak output of 40 watts per panel. Yielded data will be shared with architects, building developers and owners as well as alpha and beta field testing customers selected in 2010-2011.

“The purpose of this project is to test the performance and robustness of our solar panel solution for a curtain wall application with a variety of glass and window configurations under a wide range of environmental and insolation conditions,” commented Dr. Terri Jordan, vice president of business development at Konarka. “The yielded data and information will guide our development of the first-of-its-kind vision application, a transparent, colored solar glass panel, and we are pleased to launch this first-class pilot installation with Arch.”

In May, the two companies announced product development plans to collaborate on building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), photovoltaic materials used to replace conventional building materials.