SWEDEN – Wood is the “sustainable” material most used in construction of houses and also in many other areas.  And thanks to an invention of researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm its application could widen significantly.

Swedish scientists have invented transparent timber, which is proposed as an economic and environmentally sustainable material that could find applications to create windows (more cost effective) and also for solar panels.

“The transparent Wood is an excellent material for solar cells, since it is a low cost material, easily available and renewable.  Important things when you want to cover large areas with solar cells “, explains Lars Berglund of the Center for Technologies of the KTH Wood.

It is not the first time that the transparent timber has been “invented”, but it is the first time it is obtained using a process which could be expand to large-scale processing.

The secret of the transparent timber is the removal of lignin, which absorbs up to 95% of the light that passes through the wood, and then adding the acrylic.  The result are panels that are twice as resistant plexiglass, with very interesting mechanical properties due to its low weight and low thermal conduction.