A Healthy Balance for Climate and Checkbook

PLEXIGLAS® ensures a good climate

Natural light in the workplace is critical for the well-being and productivity of employees. But strong sunlight rapidly leads to heat buildup indoors, resulting in high energy costs for air conditioning. New shading elements made from transparent PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds solve this problem and ensure bright rooms and an optimal indoor climate. The transparent lamellar sunblinds, produced from a special PLEXIGLAS® compound, have a 90° prism structure that provides total reflection of direct sunlight. They keep out the heat of the sun but allow diffuse daylight to enter the room. Even with the blinds closed, the rooms stay pleasantly bright and naturally air-conditioned. This reduces the energy requirement for air conditioning and artificial lighting.

PLEXIGLAS® also offers a solution for light domes. PLEXIGLAS HEATSTOP® ensures that the high transparency of the domes is maintained for extremely uniform room illumination, and that heat buildup in the rooms is significantly lower.

Improved energy balance—thanks to PLEXIGLAS®

Greenhouses are cooled in summer and heated in winter, and energy is a key cost factor for their operators. It pays here to select the right thermal insulation, such as PLEXIGLAS® multi-skin sheeting. With conventional glazing, energy is often wasted because of poor insulation. PLEXIGLAS® multi-skin sheets allow energy savings of up to 55 percent and reduce CO2 emissions by the same measure. Additionally, the high light transmission and the uniform, more easily regulated climate is beneficial for plants, which grow rapidly and are in good condition.

Energy of the future

The future of energy generation lies in the exploitation of solar power. In contrast to conventional systems, concentrating photovoltaic systems concentrate light by means of microstructurally processed Fresnel lenses, similarly to a magnifying glass. This requires much less semiconductor material for converting solar energy into electrical energy, which explains why this silicon saving technology is rapidly gaining ground. PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds are particularly suitable for production of this type of concentrator because of their extreme transparency, durability, and ease of working.

The high light transmission and guaranteed weathering resistance of PLEXIGLAS® also make it ideal for other types of energy generation, such as solar collectors and solar updraft power plants, in which hot air masses are produced by sunlight and used for generating power. Sunshower™ generates hot water using PLEXIGLAS HEATSTOP®, without CO2 emissions and at no extra cost because it requires no external energy source other than sunlight.