The purpose of this project was to establish and demonstrate a low-rate initial production assembly line for NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc.’s energy-generating window system. In this project, the team developed and validated the manufacturing tools and processes required to assemble coated glass into photovoltaic window modules, using production-relevant methods. Specifically, steps included glass cleaning, bus bar application, edge seal, interlayer lamination, cover glass merging, curing, and inspection, and advanced from pilot-scale to low-rate initial production scale.
The project demonstrated that these low-rate initial production assembly processes achieved the performance, quality, and throughput necessary to scale toward full-rate manufacturing. In addition, the project team fabricated and installed a representative commercial facade, which showed the successful integration of large-format energy-generating windows into an architectural system.
The results of this project significantly reduced scale-up risks by validating production methods that are directly transferable to full-scale manufacturing. This outcome enabled the transition of NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc.’s window-photovoltaic technology from pilot demonstration to commercial deployment, which supports California’s statutory goals for zero-emission buildings and cost-effective onsite renewable energy generation.
Author(s)
Corey Hoven, Elizabeth McGregor, Bruno Caputo, Next Energy Technologies, Inc
