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.

The Face Companies