This fully transparent solar cell could make every window and screen a power source

Imagine a world where every pane of glass on the planet, from the screen on your smartphone to the windows on your house was a solar panel capable of capturing energy. And not those blacked-out photovoltaic cells, either; we’re talking fully-transparent, crystal clear solar panels that look just like a piece of glass. It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but believe it or not, the technology that would enable this kind of thing already exists.

California-based startup Ubiquitous Energy has developed a completely transparent solar panel that’s practically indistinguishable from your average pane of glass – it’s just a matter of scaling it up for production and making the tech available. To find out how long we’ll have to wait until every building in the world is outfitted with power-generating window panes.

At first, the basics of transparent photovoltaics are a little counter-intuitive. A solar power cell indistinguishable from a standard pane of glass would have to let all visible light pass through in order to be fully transparent, but without capturing some of the light there is no source to generate power. But here’s the kicker - as it turns out, these solar cells aren’t capturing light that’s visible to the human eye. Instead, they’re designed to trap infrared and ultraviolet light, while allowing all visible wavelengths sail through unobstructed. Once the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths are captured, they’re directed to the edges of the panel, where the light is captured by a very thin strip of traditional photovoltaic material and transformed into electricity.

Eventually, the Ubiquitous Energy team believes they will be able to completely eliminate the need for batteries in small consumer gadgets and even smart phones. Construction began on a rapid prototyping pilot production facility last year, as part of the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters. With so many production wheels in motion, Ubiquitous Energy is already partnering with commercial companies and manufacturers to join in development agreements that could bring solar powered consumer technology products to market even quicker.