Turn Your Windows Into Solar Panels with a New Spray-On Film

We've talked about stealthy solar solutions—like solar shingles—before on the blog. They're a great way to switch to green energy without having giant, potentially ugly solar panels on your roof. While they're usually more subtle than a big panel array, the ones we've seen so far aren't exactly beautiful.

That all might be changing though, as Norweigan solar power company EnSol has patented a new solar cell technology that could be almost invisible. It's a thin film that can be sprayed directly onto glass surfaces, turning windows into solar panels.

While traditional solar panels have solar cells made of silicon, this new film uses metal nanoparticles that are embedded in a transparent matrix. That's fancy science-talk for "it uses clever little metal bits arranged in a way that is almost invisible." As it's mostly transparent, EnSol claims windows coated with the film only suffer a "slight tinting."

It's not just windows that EnSol is targeting, though. There's hope that eventually you could spray a thicker version of the film on buildings themselves, potentially turning your whole house into one giant solar panel. Imagine massive office buildings and big swaths of suburbs all coated in solar cells!

So what's the catch? Well, for now it looks like it won't be on the market for at least five years. At least that gives you plenty of time to clean your windows.

Image via EnSol