A Solar Water-Heating Smart Window by Integration of the Water Flow System and the Electrochromic Window Based on Reversible Metal Electrodeposition.

Various smart windows with dynamic modulation of the light transmittance have been developed rapidly in recent years. However, current design of the smart windows can only modulate the indoor solar irradiation instead of effectively utilize them. Here, a solar water-heating (SWH) smart window is proposed by the integration of the traditional electrochromic window and the water flow system, which can not only provide dynamic daylight modulation but also harvest the solar energy and store them by heating water. In the SWH window, the reversible metal electrodeposition (RME) not only provides daylight modulation but also provides metal layer working as a flat-plate solar collector for energy harvesting. Compared with traditional electrochromic windows, the SWH window with a water flow system can more effectively modulate the indoor temperature, owing to the significantly enhanced tunability of the thermal irradiation from the window. Compared with water-flow windows, the RME provide a metallic layer for efficient light harvesting, up to 42% solar energy can be effectively harvested and stored as hot water. Such an SWH smart window is promising to reduce the heating, lighting, and air conditioning energy consumption, which may bring new insights in the design of the next-generation green buildings.