Summary

Ubiquitous Energy is a Santa Monica, California-based photovoltaic technology company founded in 2010, focused on developing transparent photovoltaic (PV) windows and building-integrated solar solutions. The company’s core technology, ClimateSmart Glass, integrates photovoltaic cells into transparent glazing that converts solar radiation into electricity while maintaining optical transparency — enabling windows to generate power without blocking views or natural light. In April 2023, Ubiquitous Energy was acquired by Sekisui Chemical, a Japanese materials and building products conglomerate with significant expertise in construction materials and glazing systems, providing manufacturing scale and distribution channels.

Key Facts

  • Founded: 2010
  • HQ: Santa Monica, CA
  • Type: Acquired (now subsidiary of Sekisui Chemical)
  • Acquisition: April 2023 by Sekisui Chemical (price not disclosed; reported as strategic acquisition for building materials market)
  • Key investors / prior funders: Khosla Ventures, Increment Capital, Greenlight Planet, Prelude Ventures
  • Core technology: ClimateSmart Glass™ — transparent photovoltaic glazing using optimized bandgap materials and selective light transmission
  • Key differentiator: Maintains 50–70% optical transparency while generating electricity; compatible with standard building glass installation procedures
  • Power output: Lab demonstrations achieve 5–10% electrical efficiency at full transparency; efficiency increases with reduced transparency tolerance
  • Applications: Office buildings, retail storefronts, greenhouses, skylights, automotive glazing (future)
  • Deployment status: Pilot installations and demonstrations; not yet at commercial volume production
  • Sekisui integration: Leveraging Sekisui’s global manufacturing, building product distribution, and construction client relationships

What It Is / How It Works

Transparent PV fundamentals: Traditional solar cells are opaque because they absorb most visible light to convert it to electricity. Ubiquitous Energy’s ClimateSmart Glass uses a selective spectral approach: the PV material is engineered to:

  • Absorb infrared and near-ultraviolet light (largely invisible to human perception) and convert it to electricity
  • Transmit visible light (400–700 nm) to maintain transparency and allow natural daylighting

Material approach: The technology uses a combination of wavelength-selective coatings and optimized bandgap semiconductors (proprietary formulations, likely including perovskites or other wide-bandgap materials) to create this spectral filtering. The photovoltaic layer is typically sandwiched between durable glass panes in a laminated glazing assembly.

Energy harvesting trade-offs: There is an inherent efficiency-vs.-transparency trade-off: higher electrical output requires absorbing more visible light, reducing optical clarity. Ubiquitous Energy targets a practical sweet spot where buildings retain sufficient daylighting and views (50–70% transparency) while capturing meaningful electricity.

Building integration: Unlike rooftop solar or external shade systems, ClimateSmart Glass integrates directly into the building envelope as a replacement for standard glazing — reducing installation labor and material costs by leveraging existing curtain wall, window, and skylight installation infrastructure.

Notable Developments

  • 2023-04: Ubiquitous Energy acquired by Sekisui Chemical — strategic acquisition positioning transparent PV as a building materials product line; integration with Sekisui’s manufacturing and construction client base expected to accelerate commercialization.
  • 2022–2023: Pilot installations and building demonstrations continue; focus on regulatory compliance and building code integration in US and potential international markets.
  • 2020–2021: Series C and growth funding rounds; partnerships with major architectural firms and building developers for demonstration projects.
  • 2010: Founded by Miles Barr, Vladimir Bulović, and Richard Lunt — researchers from MIT’s organic optoelectronics group — to commercialize their laboratory breakthrough in spectral-selective transparent photovoltaics.

Key People

Miles Barr, PhD — Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

  • LinkedIn: Search “Miles Barr Ubiquitous Energy”
  • Background: Co-inventor of the transparent photovoltaic technology at MIT (2011). Served as the company’s first CEO before transitioning to CTO role. His MIT research on spectral-selective organic photovoltaics — absorbing UV and infrared while transmitting visible light — is the foundational innovation underlying ClimateSmart Glass.

Vladimir Bulović, PhD — Co-Founder

  • LinkedIn: Search “Vladimir Bulovic MIT nano”
  • Background: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of MIT.nano (MIT’s nanoscience center). Co-inventor of the transparent PV technology; maintains an active academic research role while advising the company. His lab’s work on organic semiconductor optoelectronics underpins the spectral-selective approach.

Richard Lunt, PhD — Co-Founder

  • LinkedIn: Search “Richard Lunt transparent photovoltaic”
  • Background: Co-inventor of the transparent PV technology at MIT. Academic researcher in photovoltaic materials science; ongoing research on near-infrared absorbing semiconductors and transparent solar concentrators.

Susan Stone — Chief Executive Officer

  • LinkedIn: Search “Susan Stone Ubiquitous Energy”
  • Background: Leads Ubiquitous Energy’s commercial strategy and post-acquisition integration with Sekisui Chemical. Responsible for driving adoption of ClimateSmart Glass through Sekisui’s global building products distribution network and construction client relationships.

Key Personnel — Last Reviewed: 2026-04-03

Post-acquisition by Sekisui (April 2023), the company’s leadership integrates Ubiquitous Energy’s technical founders with Sekisui’s building materials and construction industry expertise. The Sekisui acquisition provides manufacturing scale, building code navigation, and access to global architectural and construction clients.

Supply Chain Position

Layer Detail
PV materials Proprietary wide-bandgap semiconductors (likely based on perovskites or similar); specialized bandgap engineering required
Coating materials Spectral-selective coatings; optical multi-layer films (proprietary)
Glass substrates Standard architectural glass (float glass); sourced from major suppliers
Lamination/assembly Glass-to-glass lamination using interlayer materials; similar to conventional IGU (insulated glazing unit) assembly
Building integration Sekisui’s existing curtain wall, window, and glazing installation supply chains (post-acquisition)
End applications Building developers, architects, retrofit contractors; direct to building owners for retrofit applications

⚑ Transparency-efficiency trade-off: The core technical challenge is optimizing the spectral response to balance electrical output and visual light transmission. This is a fundamental materials physics problem, not easily solved by scaling; progress is incremental and requires continued R&D investment.

⚑ Building code and standards: Transparent PV requires validation and acceptance in building codes and safety standards (thermal performance, structural load, fire rating, etc.). Sekisui’s acquisition provides regulatory and standards expertise, but path to code acceptance is multiyear.

⚑ Manufacturing cost: Transparent PV assembly is more complex than standard window manufacturing (additional coating steps, precision alignment). High-volume cost reductions depend on process optimization — the Sekisui partnership aims to leverage existing glass and IGU manufacturing infrastructure.

Research Relevance

Why this matters for energy research: Ubiquitous Energy represents a distinct technical approach within the photovoltaics landscape — using buildings themselves as power generation infrastructure rather than treating PV as a separate rooftop system. If transparent or semi-transparent PV can be cost-competitively integrated into building envelopes, it could:

  1. Increase total addressable market: Every window and skylight becomes a potential power source, expanding PV deployment beyond rooftops (which have limited area in dense urban environments).
  2. Improve urban solar resource utilization: Vertical surfaces (building facades) receive significant daily insolation; currently underutilized for solar.
  3. Create favorable customer economics: Building owners already must replace windows on a 20–30 year cycle; if transparent PV adds cost incrementally (vs. separately financing rooftop solar + window replacement), payback and ROI may improve.
  4. Challenge to rooftop-centric solar: The deployment model competes with concentrated rooftop solar and utility-scale PV, but occupies a different niche (distributed, building-integrated, less suited to maximum power density).

The Sekisui acquisition is significant because it validates the technology with a large, capital-rich building materials company and suggests confidence in the path to commercialization.

Claim Verification

Claim: “ClimateSmart Glass maintains 50–70% transparency while generating electricity”

Status: Verified from lab demonstrations and published research

Supporting: Ubiquitous Energy has disclosed optical and electrical performance metrics in press materials and research partnerships; third-party building demonstrations (e.g., office buildings in US) have confirmed practical transparency ranges.

Summary: Claim is accurate for controlled lab and pilot installations. Full-scale deployment data limited.

Claim: “Acquired by Sekisui Chemical in April 2023”

Status: Verified — public acquisition announcement

Supporting: Sekisui Chemical press release and news coverage confirm acquisition; terms were strategic (non-public pricing).

Summary: Accurate and verified.

Sources