Solar glass only powers a building while it is clean. IKU Windows keeps photovoltaic glass in the façade and its shading clean at the touch of a button, so it keeps producing the energy the building was designed to generate.
Buildings are becoming power stations. Photovoltaic glass now forms façades, canopies, skylights and shading, and the building counts on the energy it produces.
Dust, sand and city pollution block sunlight before it reaches the cells. On flat and tilted glass the loss is measurable within months, and in hot, dusty climates it builds up fastest. The higher and harder to reach the glass, the less often it is cleaned by hand.
IKU Windows builds the cleaning into the façade. Wipers and spray profiles clean the solar glass on a schedule, at the touch of a button, or automatically when humidity and rain sensors call for it.
Dust settles on flat and tilted glass far more than on vertical glass. A year-long study in Dubai measured about 10.8% lost on horizontal building-integrated PV against under 1% on vertical façade modules.
Flat and shallow glass collects dust, sand and pollution fastest, and is the hardest to reach.
Tilted glass faces the sun best and loses the most to dirt. Studies record losses of 11 to 16% on tilted modules.
Solar fins shade the building and generate power. IKU Windows cleans behind and between them.
Sheds dust better, but still needs cleaning to stay clear, safe and productive, without cradles at height.
Regulators are asking new buildings to generate their own clean energy, which puts more solar glass on more buildings.
All new buildings must be zero-emission from 2030, and new public buildings from 2028. Solar installations are being phased in on new buildings, starting with public and non-residential buildings from the end of 2026 and reaching new homes by the end of 2029.
In June 2025 the UK government confirmed the Future Homes Standard will require solar panels on new homes in England.
Dubai's Al Sa'fat green building system and Saudi Arabia's Mostadam rating reward on-site renewable energy, in some of the dustiest conditions solar glass faces.
Yes, especially on flat and tilted glass. A year-long study in Dubai found horizontal building-integrated PV lost about 10.8% of its output to dust, while vertical façade modules lost under 1%.
Canopies, skylights, atrium roofs, sloped glazing, louvres and shading fins. Dust and pollution settle on these surfaces, and they are often the hardest to reach safely.
Yes. IKU Windows cleans photovoltaic and solar glass built into the façade in the same way as ordinary glazing, at the touch of a button or automatically when sensors call for it.
Building rules are tightening. In the EU all new buildings must be zero-emission from 2030, with solar installations phased in on new buildings from the end of 2026, and England is requiring solar panels on new homes.
Tell us about the building and its solar glass, and we will show you how IKU Windows keeps it clean and producing.
Or write to wayneg@iku-firetech.com directly.
