Peafowl Plasmonics at Step Change 2023 event - Glastory

At Peafowl, we are originally a science-based deep-tech startup. We ventured on solving the problem of producing a completely transparent photovoltaic solar cell by using a new technology called Plasmonics. And that’s where the name Peafowl Plasmonics comes from.

We’re actually nanoparticle researchers from the beginning. We were invited by VELUX, who picked us up and said that they like our technology and they see that it’s very relevant for the glass industry. They think Peafowl technology could be integrated into their products.

Not being a glass person – and Peafowl definitely not being a glass company – we are expecting to learn a lot here at Step Change and talk to people and see if there is a question that we can answer.

It’s been great so far. People come over, and they are really interested. And they’re trying to figure out how our technology can fit into the issues and challenges of this industry.

My vision is – and a lot of the keynote speakers have touched upon it here at GPD – much higher sustainability for all the commercial and residential buildings we have today. And glass is a big part of that. So, if we can turn these surfaces into energy generating instead of just reflecting, then it’s going to be a big change for humanity. There is some 30 to 40% of the energy consumption that we can work with. So we have this fantastic opportunity to actually do something good for the world.

At Peafowl, all the people that work there are very committed to the sustainability angle of what we do. Our biggest milestone is actually to make it work. Because when I show a totally transparent photovoltaic solar cell, people say: “Nah, that’s never going to work.” It has to be black or it has to block things to work. But we’ve invented a way that actually uses a completely different technology to do that. So getting it to work was the biggest thing. Now, the next step is to make it bigger.