More Than a View: Windows Double as Solar Panels

A close-up photo of one of Physee's installed PowerWindows at Amsterdam's main

business district. Credit: Jasper Juinen A tech startup on a mission to make modern commercial and housing estates energy neutral has outfitted the headquarters of a Dutch bank with the world's first commercial, fully transparent solar-power-generating windows. The windows have solar cells installed in the edges at a specific angle that allows the incoming solar light to be efficiently transformed into electricity. "Large commercial estates consume a lot of energy," said Ferdinand Grapperhaus, co-founder and CEO of the startup, called Physee. "If you want to make these buildings energy neutral, you never have enough roof surface. Therefore, activating the buildings' facades will significantly contribute to making the buildings energy neutral." [Top 10 Craziest Environmental Ideas]