Researchers are developing photovoltaic windows that can provide shade and generate electricity

From a fastcodesign.com article: “Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are developing smart photovoltaic windows that can shade you and generate electricity at the same time ... This coated glass is about 82% transparent when it’s at room temperature ... At 7% efficiency, they’re still under the minimum of 10% that the team led by Professor Peidong Yang believes would be adequate for commercial purposes. Dou told me that they hope to reach that mark in the next three to five years ... They also face a manufacturing roadblock: the color. Right now, Yang’s team can get the glass to turn orange, red, and brown ... But the main problem, right now, is the glass’s temperature threshold, which they’re working to reduce to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, the typical temperature of glass exposed to a typical sunny midday.”