Researchers are finding a lot of promise in a technology that uses glass coated with dye to generate solar power. A pane of glass is coated with a special dye, which shunts sunlight to photovoltaic cells in the frame. Very cool.

The best news about this, though, isn’t just that it’s cool, but that this could mark a potential paradigm shift in the way people view solar, if this technology were ever to hit mass production. And that’s because, as I’ve gone on about in previous posts, solar has the challenge of integrating itself into people’s daily routines, and this technology completely addresses that challenge. There’s a psychological obstacle to putting photovoltaic panels on the roof, or anything else that in some way changes (and therefore has the danger of screwing up) the way someone’s home or living space looks. It’s not an impassable obstacle, and the legitimate aesthetic appeal, financial benefits, and environmental value of solar are why many people choose to make such a change. But with something like this, the threshold for adoption becomes much lower. No longer is the family in danger of being those strange people on the block with the big panels. They won’t have to compromise their careful decision-making regarding how the space around them looks and feels. It will be simple; the addition is literally transparent.

That’s why I’m excited about this in more than just a technical way. This could be a real game-changer, in the residential zone particularly. And if we think about dedicated structures, then glittering, beautiful buildings that are both aesthetic marvels and substantial power plants doesn’t sound to bad, either. Here’s hoping these guys can make it work.