Siberian ?smart? glass ready for rollout, but lackluster market demand stalls process

Young scientists in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, are developing a state-of-the-art technology to make ?smart? energy-efficient glass; however, there?s no real demand for such innovations in Russia

Young scientists at the Institute of Engineering Physics and Radio Electronics, a department of Siberian Federal University (SFU) in Krasnoyarsk, are developing a state-of-the-art technology to make new energy-efficient glass, Iapress-line.ru reported. What?s known as ?smart? glass has a number of advantages over conventional window glass. The new glass is said to be able to bar infrared radiation; keep warmth in a room in winter; and prevent hot sunrays from getting into the room in summer. The glass can be shaded, thus saving its owner some budget allocated for extra blinds or curtains. In addition, the glass could reportedly be used as solar batteries. Russian users have to import transparent conducting and electrochromic glass, mostly from China. However, existing technology of applying special coatings to glass adds to the overall cost of an end product considerably. For example, a machine to produce vacuum-generated film costs around $2.8m. The technology that the Krasnoyarsk researchers led by Dr...