Iconic Chicago tower tests solar-PV windows

Pythagoras Solar, a provider of energy-efficient windows that also generate solar power, will collaborate with Chicago’s Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) on a pilot project to help meet the building’s renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement goals.

The pilot project, deployed last November on the south-facing windows of the Willis Tower’s 56th floor, uses a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solution that has the potential to expand to a surface area allowing over two megawatts of solar power generation.

Mass-scale solar-power window installations can improve the energy efficiency and energy generation potential of a building’s exterior envelope and windows. Founded in 2007, Pythagoras Solar claims to be the first company to offer a fully integrated photovoltaic glass unit (PVGU) that addresses the need for simultaneous benefits of energy efficiency and high power density.

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