OK, now here is some great news! According to a recent report, (http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/transparent-photovoltaic-cells-turn-windows-into-solar-panels/?smid=tw-nytimesscience&seid=auto) scientists have now developed a way to create transparent photovoltaic cells! This means ordinary windows can now be turned into solar panels without losing the ability to allow visible light to pass into a building. So your the windows in own home will soon be able to help you reduce your electric bill! And think of all the windows in a large high rise office building! 

The cost of the cells will be manageable as well. Much of the cost of solar panels today is the material on which the cells are mounted. Since the windows would already be in construction, the task of applying cells would add very little to the price of each window.

But don’t go tearing out all your windows just yet. Currently photovoltaic cells do not have a lifespan anywhere near as long as the normal life expectancy of windows (20 years minimum). So this problem still needs to be solved before large scale introduction can occur, but still... what a break through!

And with the cost of our dependency on fossil fuels, both at the gas pump and in terms of the atmosphere of our planet, advances in non polluting, renewable energy sources are more important than ever.

Of course, explaining to kids how all of this works and why it is so important can be a daunting task. Which is why we happily provide schools with a great school show to do that very job!

Our Changing Climate is a super cool environmental science assembly program well liked by kids of all ages. Our Dr. Exhaustus takes up the challenge, accompanied by animatronic characters, high tech video and an array of awesome hand props, and takes kids on a journey through the world of climate change. This very timely and important program is far more than the typical “reduce,reuse,recycle” affair schools have become used to as “environmental” assemblies. Our Changing Climate is very much a real science assembly though as much fun as a magic show!

Dr. Exhaustus does make trips to Texas and to the east coast, but for most of the school year he is resident in the greater Chicago area, visiting schools all over northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwestern Indiana. 

So, while windows that charge your electric car may be a ways off yet, the ability to explain to kids why we need such gizmos is just a phone call away!