New glass could improve solar cell efficiency

Researchers at ITMO University in St. Petersburg, Russia have developed a new glass that emits visible light when in the presence of ultraviolet radiation. UV radiation normally counteracts the performance of solar cells, and diminishes the practical lifetime of the cell.

This glass could intercept UV radiation and convert it to visible frequencies. The converted UV radiation could then actually improve the efficiency of the collector. Currently, solar collectors have variable efficiency ratings, but some collectors are only about 20% efficient. This glass could increase the efficiency of lower performing collectors by one-third.

According to the researchers, the glass is easy to produce. In addition to improving the performance of solar collectors, the glass could also extend the life of both solar cells and white LEDs.

White LEDs are currently made by coating blue LEDs with yellow phosphor. The yellow phosphor doesn’t age well, and often causes the LED to overheat. The significant rise in temperature destroys the phosphor layer and causes the LED to fail. This is particularly apparent in large LEDs – those used for public lighting on streets, airports and in stadiums.

Using the technology developed at ITMO University, photoluminescent particles can be embedded directly into glass. This improves both the durability and performance of large LED lights. Typically, large LED lights must be replaced every 6 months. This glass technology, which eliminates the LED’s main failure mode, could extend the life of LEDs to as much as 5 years.

Technological advances in glass and glass production can significantly enhance energy efficiency. Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specially engineered glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. Glassprimer™ glass paint can be tinted to match virtually any major paint manufacturer’s paint palette. In addition, the paintprovides superior UV resistance without sacrificing performance.

Iconic Glass Structures – Palm House, Kew Gardens

The Palm House is one of three major buildings on the grounds. It is a breathtaking glass structure made of wrought iron and glass. The building houses the Garden’s collection of palms. A second structure, twice the size of the Palm House, known as the Temperate House, is the largest glasshouse in the world. The third major structure in the Kew Gardens is the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which was opened in 1987. It houses plants from the dry and wet tropics.

Kew, which is an area that has been absorbed by London, has been the site of a royal residence since about 1300. The Kew Gardens were originally created in the late 1700’s by combining several royal residences. At that time, the Garden’s first curator was also appointed. The Gardens became a national botanical garden in 1840, shortly before the Palm House was built. The Palm House was constructed between 1844-1848 of wrought iron and glass. It is the largest surviving Victorian-era iron-and-glass structure in the world. The glass panes in the Palm House are all hand-blown. The original glass in the Palm House was tinted green to reduce the heat buildup in the building.

The Kew Gardens is one of London’s top tourist attractions. Annually, it welcomes more than 1.3 million visitors, and occupies about 300 acres.

Decorating with Glass

When the task is to decorate a room, most people focus on colors, furnishings, textures and flooring. One important element of decorating is light, and the source of most natural light is the window. Glass is an integral part of a decorating scheme, so it’s important to remember it when making a decorating plan.

Windows have two primary purposes – light and ventilation. In some cases, a window is non-operable, so letting in light is its only gig. Light’s visible components are definitely desirable, but light has invisible components that bring in unwanted (or much wanted) heat.

Light and the accompanying heat raise the temperature of a room. That might be desirable in some settings, and highly undesirable in others. With an operable window, you have the option of ventilating with natural air. With inoperable glass, your only option is to turn up the air conditioning.

Letting in light means letting others have a view of your interior space. In most cases, that’s not what you want, so a decorating plan that includes glass will need to take into account the need for privacy.

You can “privatize” your window glass with a wide range of window treatments – including blinds, shades, drapes and shutters. You can also use frosted or coated glass to limit the ability to see out of the window without completely restricting the light that gets in.

Glassprimer™ glass paint offers a frosted effect paint that enables you to “frost” ordinary glass at a fraction of the cost of true frosted glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint creates a permanent bond with the glass surface, so once the paint has cured, it won’t come off.

These GFRC pieces are nearly 7′ tall.

If you’re always on the lookout for interesting decorative materials, get to know glass fiber reinforced concrete. If the word “concrete” immediately makes you worry about weight, you should definitely read on.

Glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) is used to create façade panels, shaped concrete, countertops and other similar surfaces. GFRC can also be used for smaller, free-standing pieces and decorative molding. It can be used in interior and exterior structural and non-structural applications.

Glass fiber reinforced concrete is made of sand, cement, polymers and glass fibers. It sounds a lot like regular old concrete, except that it doesn’t contain any rock aggregate. This lightens up GFRC substantially. It also makes it more amenable to being shaped, flexed, stretched and compressed without breaking or cracking. Glass fiber reinforced concrete is also strong, which makes it desirable in building and decorating applications.

The secret to GFRC’s strength is the glass fibers. The glass fibers give the mixture its tensile strength under load, while the polymers distribute the load evenly.

GFRC can be made by spraying the concrete mixture into forms while long glass fibers are added. This allows GFRC to be cast in place, and eliminates the need for separate transportation and installation. It also allows the concrete to be shaped in virtually any form.

GFRC can also be made by premixing the glass fibers into the concrete-polymer mix. These fibers are shorter and are not as strong as their “sprayed up” counterparts.

A hybrid method of creating GFRC combines the spray and premixed method. Using this approach, a thin facing coat is sprayed into a mold, then a fiber-reinforced mixture is added to the mold. This approach is usually used to make concrete countertops.

Glass fiber reinforced concrete is about 75 years old. It was first developed in Russia in the 1940s, but didn’t gain much traction until the 1970s. The technique has been tweaked a bit, but it’s gained popularity as the price of cement has risen. GFRC can be created for somewhere between $3 and $4 per square foot.

GFRC can be surface treated in a number of ways, including etching, sand blasting, polishing, dyeing and painting. It can also be pigmented during production. You can use Glassprimer™ glass paint on surfaces like GFRC. Glassprimer™ glass paint makes a permanent bond with surfaces like concrete, and offers exceptional UV resistance.

Bullseye Glass Targeted Again

Bullseye Glass, the Portland glass furnace at the center of the debate about toxic metals, is in the crosshairs again. This time, the State of Oregon is warning Bullseye about its selenium emissions.

Bullseye began working again just this month, following a months-long hiatus from producing stained glass that uses heavy metals like cadmium, arsenic and lead. The company reduced its output to control emissions in February, after readings showed high concentrations of the heavy metals in the air around the plant.

The company installed a filtration system to recapture heavy-metal laced vapors that are produced when the furnace makes certain colors of stained glass. The newest warning comes just weeks after the company resumed full production. According to the state, a recent reading taken from the air around the plant showed selenium in a concentration of 887 nanograms/cu-meter, which exceeds the state’s monitoring trigger of 710 ng/cu-meter.

Since taking the reading, the State of Oregon has asked Bullseye to confirm that it is using no more than 5 pounds of selenium per day, and that it is making the glass only in furnaces that use the new filtration system. State officials believe that the filtration system recently installed should be able to filter selenium emissions from the plant if the producer maintains limited use of selenium.

The State of Oregon does not currently have a maximum allowable limit on selenium emissions, but the Oregon Health Authority and the state’s Department of Environmental Quality are working to develop that standard. While selenium does not cause major health or developmental problems, it can cause respiratory irritation, coughing, bronchitis and breathing problems in exposed individuals.

The Bullseye case is being monitored by the US Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies around the country, which are coping with the same environmental concerns about their own art glass production facilities. The US EPA may release new filtration standards and reduce threshold filtration requirements. That could eliminate the current exemptions in place for small glass producers.