Performance investigation of heat insulation solar glass for low-carbon buildings

• U-value of HISG is found to be 1.10 W/m2 K.
• Maximum temperature difference is achieved by HISG with 12.70 °C.
• HISG provides two times better insulation than standard double glazed windows.
• HISG generates over 40 W electricity from a glazing surface of 0.66 m2.
• 100% of UV in incoming solar radiation is absorbed by HISG.

Heat insulation solar glass (HISG), which has been recently developed by Professor Chin-Huai Young in Taiwan is an extraordinary glazing technology for low/zero carbon buildings. HISG differs from traditional glazing technologies with its ability of producing electricity. It also offers some additional features such as thermal insulation, sound insulation, self-cleaning and energy saving. In this work, thermal insulation, power generation and optical performance of HISG are experimentally investigated. Thermal insulation performance of HISG is analysed through standardized co-heating test methodology, and the results are compared with different traditional double glazed window samples. For the power generation and optical performance of HISG, two samples (air filled HISG and Argon filled HISG) are experimentally investigated in real and simulated operating conditions. The results indicate that both configurations show similar performance in terms of power generation. Under a solar intensity of 850 W/m2, over 40 W electrical power is achieved from HISG samples with a glazing area of 0.66 m2. Performance of samples under solar simulator is not found to be promising due to the absence of UV and IR parts in the artificial light source. In terms of thermal insulation ability, HISG is also found to be attractive. The average U-value of HISG is determined to be 1.10 W/m2 K, which is two times better than standard double glazed windows. Some simulation results for two different cities (Taipei, Taiwan and Nottingham, UK) demonstrating the energy saving potential of HISG are also presented.