Controlling light and heat radiation through windows and glass facades at the push of a button, saving energy while maintaining a clear view?
 

Switchable electrochromic films that darken but remain transparent are expected to achieve this in the future. The fact that this can also be retrofitted in existing buildings is to be demonstrated by the joint project "EnOB: FLEX-G 4.0 - Technologies for innovative switchable films as a retrofit solution for energy-saving windows and glass facades" (funding reference: 03EN1048), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action BMWK. Coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP, the project will collaborate with six other partners to advance the state of the art to the prototype stage over the next four years.

The project aims to achieve two goals: retrofitting the windows of a Dresden school and actively involving the pupils in the technology development as a contribution to promoting career orientation.

The Fraunhofer ISC is responsible for the scale-up and optimization of the electrochromic films from laboratory to industrial scale by using roll-to-roll processing in cooperation with Coatema and tesa SE. The development of characterization methods for the electrochromic films, its quality and durability is a further important task in the project.