Invested In Climate

Transparent solar’s revolutionary potential with Andersen Windows & Ubiquitous Energy, Ep #47

Apr 11, 2023

48:38

Imagine if solar panels could be invisible and so thin that you could install them inside windows. Exciting, right?

This isn’t a science fiction thought experiment, but it’s a real technology being developed by a company called Ubiquitous Energy. And it gets even better: they’re developing this technology in partnership with Andersen Windows, one of the largest and perhaps best-known residential window manufacturers in the US.

We’re joined today by Ubiquitous Energy’s CEO Susan Stone and Andersen Corporation’s Director of Ventures Prabhakar Karri (who goes by KP), who led Andersen’s investment in Ubiquitous. We talk about the technology that makes transparent solar possible, how it was developed, the path to market, the transformative impact it could have on the built environment, and much more. For anyone interested in technology that could really change the world around us and the types of partnerships needed to reach scale, this episode is for you. Enjoy.

In today’s episode, we cover:

[3:40] Ubiquitous Energy & the technology it’s developing
[7:30] The history of Ubiquitous Energy & key milestones
[12:28] How Andersen Windows & Ubiquitous Energy found each other
[14:56] Andersen’s transparent solar products & when they’ll go-to-market
[16:04] How Andersen is gauging customer interest & what they're learning
[19:13] The impact on price for customers & solar investment tax credits
[23:12] How efficient is transparent solar technology
[27:24] The physical placement of this technology
[31:08] How much of a contribution could transparent solar make to our overall energy needs
[33:09] The main barriers to widespread adoption
[35:39] The investment potential & critical factors for achieving that potential
[38:12] The transparent solar market
[41:35] Andersen’s investment thesis, how Ubiquitous fits in & what else they’re looking at
[43:55] Andersen's sustainability commitments & what they’re doing
[45:38] What listeners considering becoming an early adopter of transparent solar can do
[46:35] Final thoughts