Australian solar glass pioneer signs partner for first commercial rollout in home market

Just over two months after landing its first major order in the US, Perth-based clear solar glass manufacturer ClearVue Technologies has made a key breakthrough in its home market, signing up a partner for its first commercial rollout on Australia’s east coast.

The three-year deal with Victoria-based Safety Glass, trading as MS Glass, marks ClearVue’s first licensee in Australia and will ultimately set up a supply chain for the company’s home-grown building-integrated PV technology across the country.

The agreement – which includes the option for two five-year renewals – gives MS Glass exclusive manufacturing and distribution rights for ClearVue’s integrated clear solar glass units (IGUs) in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, and the ACT.

Further, it gives MS Glass a sole license (with ClearVue retaining rights itself) to distribute the company’s products into Western Australia, South Australia, and the Northern Territory, as well as a non-exclusive license to manufacture and supply products to ClearVue on an OEM basis for these territories and outside of Australia.

“This agreement couldn’t have come at a better time as we rapidly grow our pipeline of opportunities across the country,” said ClearVue’s global CEO Martin Deil on Monday.

Deil says MS Glass is one of four glass processors globally who shared their production facilities and industry knowledge with ClearVue as the company worked to design a product that could integrated into existing production lines.

“The agreement with MS Glass completes the licensing of all four companies (AIT Group in the US, H T Glass in Singapore and our OEM YY Windows in China), whose input was instrumental in providing feedback to our design team,” Deil said.

“We look forward to reporting to the market as and when new Australian projects are signed through MS Glass both in the short term and over the years to come.”

Tania White, general manager of MS Glass, said the company expected to see “substantial interest” in the ClearVue product, which she described as “a standout in the global market.”

“Several customers are patiently awaiting product availability following improvement cycles and final testing. We will continue to build interest and a book of business as we prepare to launch the product for sale in the Australian market over the next six or so months,” White said.

Boasting a visible light transparency of around 70%, ClearVue’s technology incorporates solar cells around the edges of an insulated glass unit, while patented nano and micro particles are incorporated into the lamination interlayer between the glass in the insulated glass unit. A spectrally selective coating is also used on the rear external surface of the unit.

ClearVue says that its renewable solar glass energy technology can “self-power occupant comfort control solutions” which are linked to a building management system.

ClearVue’s technology has already been deployed and tested at various projects deployed in its home state of Western Australia, as well as projects in Japan and China, and is also UL and IEC certified.

A “world-first” clear solar glass demonstrator greenhouse was completed in Western Australia in 2021 located at the Murdoch University in Perth. A second greenhouse, this time in the United States, was announced in October of 2023, which will provide around 82kW, or an estimated 107,000kWh per year.