WOW! Can Solar Glass Be Installed Underwater?

Two years have passed since the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics, but a solar glass project in the Chongli competition area has continued to attract considerable attention.

Why?

This solar glass project, as part of the Winter Olympics facilities, is not only visually stunning but also represents bold experimentation and breakthroughs in the use of solar glass building materials. Let's quickly explore what remarkable 'highlights' this project associated with the Winter Olympics has to offer.

The first underwater photovoltaic landscape in China? 

This project is the Fountain Square landscape project in the Chongli competition area of the Beijing Winter Olympics, designed by Li Cundong, the chief landscape architect of the China Architecture Design & Research Group and founder of the landscape profession. He is also the director of the Urban and Rural Landscape Research Center of the China Construction Science and Technology Group Central Research Institute.

In addition to the exquisite lighting effects at night, Fountain Square is most remarkable for incorporating cadmium telluride solar glass products underwater, making them an integral part of the water feature. This aspect poses the greatest challenge and difficulty for the project. On one hand, it demands extremely high waterproof performance for solar glass products, and on the other hand, it presents challenges in waterproofing during the construction process.

▲ The solar floor tile product integrates anti-skid tempered thickened photovoltaic glass, LED light, energy storage and controller, ensuring safety, reliability and easy installation.

The Fountain Square utilizes cadmium telluride solar floor tiles produced by TERLI. This product has been applied in numerous photovoltaic road projects, and its waterproofing, safety, power generation capability and stability have been thoroughly validated by the market and over time.

Landscape architecture and solar glass building materials come together seamlessly, adding a green touch to the Winter Olympics

The Fountain Square incorporates 420 pieces of cadmium telluride solar floor tiles, each measuring 600x600x110mm. With a power output of 46W per tile, the total installed capacity of the project is 19.32kW, with an estimated annual electricity generation of around 25,000 kWh. This perfectly meets the electricity demand for underwater lighting during the night.

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is a key development direction for distributed photovoltaic power generation applications 

In recent years, BIPV has emerged as a rapidly innovating technology with vast market prospects in the field of renewable energy. It is characterized by diverse application scenarios and high integration with buildings, enabling seamless integration with urban development. The active support of the Chinese National Energy Administration, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and local government departments in promoting BIPV policies is expected to make solar glass a preferred choice for future photovoltaic building materials.

In this context, TERLI leveraging its leading cadmium telluride thin-film solar cell technology and extensive experience in BIPV projects has developed eight major categories and over 50 types of CdTe thin-film solar glass building materials products suitable for various BIPV project requirements, including curtain walls, roof tiles, bricks and railings.

In the future, TERLI will continue to research and develop more solar glass building materials products according to industry development needs, contributing to the realization of "carbon neutrality" in the construction industry.

If you have more questions or ideas about these projects, we welcome interaction with you at any time!