Quantum Dot Solar Windows Technology Wins Special R&D 100 Award Recognition

The Quantum-Dot Solar Windows technology was pioneered in Chemistry Division’s Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics and co-developed with the University of Milano-Bicocca

R&D 100, the national magazine of research and development, named the winners of its 2016 technology innovation awards at the award ceremony November 3rd, 2016 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in a Maryland suburb just outside Washington, D.C. Los Alamos National Laboratory captured several awards: Two, for co-developed cyber security products, Entropy Engine and Path-Scan; two for a pair of large collaborations, the CCSI (Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative) Toolset and the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA); one for a medical device, the PulMo (Pulmonary Lung Model); and another Special Recognition Award Winner for Quantum-Dot Solar Windows.
 
The Quantum-Dot Solar Windows technology was pioneered in Chemistry Division’s Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics and co-developed with the University of Milano-Bicocca.  These revolutionary semitransparent windows contain highly emissive semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) that collect sunlight for photovoltaics and provide a desired degree of shading. The material can turn windows and building facades into electrical generators of nonpolluting power. The nontoxic dots absorb the sunlight, re-emit it at a longer wavelength and waveguide it towards edge-installed photovoltaic cells to produce electricity. This technology can transform once-passive building facades into power-generation units, which can be particularly useful in densely populated areas.
 
Read more about Quantum-Dot Solar Windows technology.