Solar Panel and Sensor Concealment
The Face® Companies of Norfolk, Va., announced the development of a revolutionary coating technology that will enable light-sensitive devices such as solar panels and photosensors to be disguised or seamlessly concealed, significantly increasing the aesthetic and economic appeal of these devices for a wide range of applications.
The patented coating, called Spectral™, is another innovation from The Face Companies’ Evergreen® Technologies. Durable and paper-thin, it appears opaque when applied to any surface but actually allows 80 percent or more of incoming light to pass through it. The Spectral™ coating can be applied like paint in virtually any color, pattern or texture, making light-harvesting devices such as thin film photovoltaic (PV) panels essentially invisible. A solar-powered roof shingle now can look just like a conventional shingle, or a solar panel on the roof of an electric car can be visually indistinguishable from the rest of the vehicle’s surface. The coating can also be applied to the back of a smartphone case to conceal a solar charging panel. Light-sensing security devices are another major Spectral™ application. With the innovative coating, motion detectors or photodetectors can be made to blend in with their surroundings, looking like rocks, fence posts or other common objects.