This solar window uses invisible dyes to concentrate sunlight and redirect it towards the PV cells, which have been integrated into the frames. Not only will this solar window make it easier for homeowners to install photovoltaic technology, without worrying about messing up their roofs and falling down ladders but the MIT solar windows are also supposed to frugal as well costing less that $1 per watt to build.

According to MIT, the cost reduction is due to the organic solar concentrators, which are the dyes that absorb different wavelengths of light and push this energy towards the frame, which contains far fewer PV cells than standard solar panels, yet producrd the same energy output.

So, imagine three years off when these solar windows are expected to hit the market, homeowners everywhere are replacing the standard glass windows in their home with solar windows. Some would say that replacing their windows may be a major pain (or pane), but the gain from the solar windows is extra energy, lower electricity bills and a house that is green to go for many years to come. For those who don’t do windows, you may rethink this one when it comes to solar windows.

These researchers are developing a solar collector that could potentially turn sun-heated roads and parking lots into ever-present (and inexpensive) sources of electricity and hot water. So far these tests have taken slabs of asphalt imbedded with thermocouples, which measure heat penetration, and copper pipes to gauge how well that heat could be transferred to say flowing water for example. By pumping water through copper piping embedded in the hot asphalt the water would, of course, absorb the heat in the process. This hot water could then be used without modification for heating buildings or in industrial processes or could be passed through a thermoelectric generator to produce electricity.