Laminated glazing with coloured reflection and high solar transmittance suitable for solar energy systems

1. A laminated glazing unit for architectural integration of solar energy systems, comprising:

a layered glazing structure that includes

a substrate having a substrate refractive index n sub a value of which at a wavelength of 550 nm is between 1.45 and 1.6;

a multi-layered interference filter disposed on a first surface of the substrate and containing a non-quarter-wave thin-film stack defined at said wavelength of 550 nm, wherein thicknesses of any two high-index material layers sandwiching an immediately-adjacent low-index material layer therebetween are different from one another and wherein thicknesses of any two low-index material layers sandwiching an immediately-adjacent high-index material layer therebetween are different from one another; wherein the high-index layers each have a refractive index from 1.8 to 2.5 and the low-refractive index layers each have a refractive index from 1.4 to 2.2 and

a laminating polymer layer disposed on the multi-layered interference filter, said laminating polymer layer having a polymer refractive index n pol a value of which at the wavelength of 550 nm between 1.45 and 1.6;

wherein said layered glazing structure, when the substrate is in contact with an incident medium having a refractive index of n inc =1, is characterized by:

a) a first reflectance value for IR light at every wavelength between 1 micron and 2.5 micron that is between 65% and 17% for at least angles of reflection of zero degrees,—65 degrees, 70 degrees, 75 degrees, 80 degrees, and 85 degrees;

and

b) a value of saturation of color, given by C* ab =√{square root over ((a*) 2 +(b*) 2 )} according to CIE color coordinates L*, a* and b* under daylight illumination CIE-D65 that is higher than 8 at normal angle of reflection, except for grey and brown;

and

c) a second reflectance value R vis for light in a visible portion of an optical spectrum at near-normal incidence that is higher than 4%;

and

d) a variation of a dominant wavelength λ MD of a dominant color, characterizing said light in the visible portion of the optical spectrum that is reflected by the layered glazing structure at an angle θ r , of less than 15 nm for every θ r <60°;

and

e) a total hemispherical solar transmittance above 80% at normal incidence.

2. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

the first reflectance value for IR light at every wavelength between 1 micron and 2.5 micron is between 20% and 13.2% for at least the angles of reflection of said IR light of zero degrees, 60 degrees, and 65 degrees.

3. The glazing unit according to claim 1 , wherein a second surface of the substrate contains a surface micro-structure or a surface nano-structure configured as a light diffuser for light at wavelengths in the visible portion the optical spectrum.

4. The glazing unit according to claim 1 , wherein the layered glazing structure includes an anti-reflection (AR) coating at a backside of the laminated glazing structure, said AR coating configured to ensure that a solar transmittance for light that has passed through the substrate, the multi-layered interference filter, and through the laminating polymer layer to interact with exposed surface is increased by about 3% after said AR coating is disposed.

5. The glazing according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises solar roll glass, an extra-white float glass with iron content of less than 120 ppm, or a polymeric material characterized by a solar transmittance higher than 90%.

6. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the laminating polymer layer comprises an elastomer cross-linking polymer, a thermoplastic product, or an ionoplastic polymer, and

further comprising a pane of glass or polymer material laminated with said layered glazing structure via said laminating polymer layer,

wherein the total hemispherical solar transmittance of the article is higher than 92% when a thickness of the laminating polymer layer is between 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm.

7. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter includes a thin-film stack of up to 9 layers that have corresponding physical thicknesses of up to 400 nm, wherein materials of said layers have corresponding extinction coefficients k not exceeding 0.2 at every wavelength between 450 nm and 2,500 nm.

8. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter includes a spatially-asymmetric filter that includes 3 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of

incident medium of air|the substrate |H1|L1|H2| exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 30±12 nm,

wherein L1 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 25±12 nm,

wherein H2 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H2 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a third physical thickness of 320±12 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as green.

9. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter is a spatially-asymmetric filter that includes 5 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of

incident medium of air|the substrate |H1|L1|H2|L2|H3 exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 185±12 nm,

wherein L1 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 25±12 nm,

wherein H2 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H2 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a third physical thickness of 35±12 nm, and

wherein L2 denotes a layer of the low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L2 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fourth physical thickness of 35±12 nm,

wherein H3 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H3 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fifth physical thickness of 130±12 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as green.

10. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter is a spatially-asymmetric filter that includes 7 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of

incident medium of air|the substrate |H1|L1|H2|L2|H3|L3|H4| exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 160±12 nm,

wherein L1 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 130±12 nm,

wherein H2 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H2 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a third physical thickness of 65±12 nm, and

wherein L2 denotes a layer of the low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L2 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fourth physical thickness of 25±12 nm,

wherein H3 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H3 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fifth physical thickness of 70±12 nm,

wherein L3 denotes a layer of the low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L3 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fourth physical thickness of 160±12 nm,

wherein H4 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H4 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fifth physical thickness of 100±12 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as green.

11. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter includes 3 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of

incident medium of air|the substrate |H1|L1|H2| exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 S at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 45±12 nm,

wherein L denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 70±12 nm,

wherein H2 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H2 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a third physical thickness of 45±12 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as green.

12. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter is a spatially-asymmetric filter that includes 5 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of

incident medium of air|the substrate |H1|L1|H2|L2|H3 exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 175±12 nm,

wherein L1 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 85±12 nm,

wherein H2 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H2 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a third physical thickness of 50±12 nm, and

wherein L2 denotes a layer of the low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L2 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fourth physical thickness of 25±12 nm,

wherein H3 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H3 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fifth physical thickness of 300±12 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as yellow-green.

13. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter is a spatially-asymmetric filter that includes 7 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of

incident medium of air|the substrate |H1|L1|H2|L2|H3|L3|H4| exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 120±12 nm,

wherein L1 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 120±12 nm,

wherein H2 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H2 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a third physical thickness of 95±12 nm, and

wherein L2 denotes a layer of the low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L2 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fourth physical thickness of 90±12 nm,

wherein H3 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H3 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fifth physical thickness of 90±12 nm,

wherein L3 denotes a layer of the low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L3 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fourth physical thickness of 95±12 nm,

wherein H4 denotes a layer of the high-refractive-index material with the refractive index of 1.8≤n H4 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a fifth physical thickness of 100±12 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as yellow-orange.

14. The glazing unit according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter includes 2 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of incident medium of air the substrate |H1|L1 exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 40±15 nm,

wherein L1 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 75±30 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as gray.

15. The glazing unit article of manufacture according to claim 1 ,

wherein the substrate includes glass or polymer,

wherein said multi-layered interference filter is a spatially-asymmetric filter that includes 4 thin-film layers such that the layered glazing structure is configured to satisfy a design of

incident medium of air|the substrate |H1|L1|H2|L2| exit medium of said polymer layer,

wherein H1 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H1 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 50±12 nm,

wherein L1 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L1 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 90±12 nm,

wherein H2 denotes a layer of a high-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.8≤n H2 ≤2.5 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a first physical thickness of 65±12 nm,

wherein L2 denotes a layer of a low-refractive-index material with a refractive index of 1.4≤n L2 ≤2.2 at the wavelength of 550 nm and a second physical thickness of 55±12 nm,

and

wherein light incident onto the substrate and reflected by said glazing unit is perceived as brown.

16. The glazing unit according to claim 1 , further comprising a solar thermal collector or a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel disposed to be separated from the multi-layered interference filter by the laminating polymer layer.

17. The glazing unit according to claim 16 , wherein said solar thermal collector and said laminating polymer layer are in direct contact with one another.

18. The glazing unit according to claim 16 , wherein an active element of the solar PV panel is fully integrated in the layered glazing structure.