NEXT Energy Installs First-Ever Large Format Building Integrated Organic Photovoltaic (BIPV) Façade
This milestone proves the potential of the technology: it is sustainable, scalable, attractive, and ready to transform the built environment.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–NEXT Energy Technologies, Inc. has accomplished another significant milestone toward commercialization of NEXT’s BIPV solution, with the first installation of a commercial facade Powered by NEXT transparent OPV coatings at its headquarters in Santa Barbara, California.
The groundbreaking installation features six transparent photovoltaic (PV) windows, each measuring 40 by 60 inches, for a total of 100 square feet of NEXT’s proprietary energy-generating glass. This marks the world’s first installation of its kind: a Building Integrated PV (BIPV) facade featuring organic photovoltaic (OPV) coatings developed by NEXT.
Each insulating glass unit (IGU) incorporates NEXT’s OPV coating on the outboard lite and runs cables through the framing system. The high-performance windows were fabricated with Low-e coated inboard lites and spacers supplied by Viracon. Walters & Wolf designed, supplied, and installed the framing system as part of the facade integration, showcasing NEXT’s seamless integration into the window fabrication supply chain.
“The successful scaling of NEXT’s OPV technology, both on glass and in facades, takes NEXT and the industry closer to a future of sustainable building design,” said Daniel Emmett, CEO, Executive Chairman, and Co-Founder of NEXT. “We’re incredibly proud of the quality of the coating, the seamless installation, and the power generation performance we’re already seeing from this first facade installation.”
Installed at the company’s Santa Barbara headquarters, the windows now offer architects, developers, and industry stakeholders a real-world demonstration of NEXT’s aesthetic, energy-producing glass in action. Visitors can see the seamless integration of solar technology into a standard commercial facade and observe firsthand how the system generates power while maintaining transparency and design flexibility.
“This is the first of many,” added Jonathan Hafemann, NEXT’s VP, Commercialization & Growth. “We’re thrilled to share this tangible demonstration of our vision for energy-generating facades, and to invite the industry to imagine what’s possible when windows do more than just manage heat gain and U-Value.”
NEXT’s transparent organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology enables commercial windows to generate solar energy, turning building facades into on-site power sources. This innovation supports greater energy efficiency, generates clean power at the point of use, enhances building resilience, and helps improve grid efficiency.
When integrated into a building, a NEXT OPV facade can generate enough electricity to offset approximately 20–25% of the energy consumption typical of commercial properties while leveraging the existing infrastructure of a commercial facade. By capturing and converting infrared light, the windows also help lower indoor cooling demands, easing the load on HVAC systems.
Track our commercialization progress and explore NEXT’s OPV solution and partnership opportunities at https://nextenergytech.com.
About NEXT Energy Technologies
NEXT Energy Technologies, a Santa Barbara, California company, is revolutionizing the clean energy and building industries with its innovations in organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology. The NEXT solution empowers architects and building owners to transform traditional windows and glass facades into producers of low-cost, on-site, renewable energy for buildings, a practical and inspiring solution for a sustainable future.
NEXT’s OPV is born out of Nobel Prize-winning work at UC Santa Barbara and is funded in part by the California Energy Commission. NEXT’s proprietary organic semiconducting materials are earth-abundant, low-cost, and processed using a high-speed, scalable, and low-energy process.
For more information, visit https://nextenergytech.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.
Contacts
Corporate Contact:
Jonathan Hafemann, NEXT Energy
VP, Commercialization & Growth
Media Contact:
Carol Warren, Antarra Communications
cwarren@antarra.com
714-890-4500
