It’s a problem that has offered no easy solutions since motoring began at the turn of the 20th century: how to quickly remove ice and snow from your vehicle’s windows without turning your fingers blue and getting frostbite in the process. Now a company out of Kitchener, Ontario, believes it has the solution. And the Canadian government is betting they do – to the tune of $2.7M.
3E NANO Inc. has created a clear “Solar/Energy Control Coating” which it says can remove the frost and fog from a windshield without requiring the vehicles engine to be at a warm operating temperature. $2.7 M in the Sustainable Development Technology Canada fund, overseen by The Ministry of Innovation and Science and Economic Development, has been earmarked to bring this welcome technology to market.
Until now, coatings available for the purpose of defogging and defrosting absorb energy from the outside and reradiate (from a conductive standpoint) to the windshield. Unlike these coatings, solar energy passes through 3E Nano’s coating and the heat is then reflected away from the interior behaving like translucent insulation and a heat source concurrently. The infrared heat can then be used to defog the inside of the windshield and melt the ice on the outside at the same time.
Conversely, 3E Nano’s coating can also reflect heat keeping a parked car in the summer sun 20 C cooler lowering the time required to bring the interior to a comfortable temperature with the air conditioning.
Several automakers are now “going through their due diligence” in proving out this technology according to 3E Nano Inc. co-founder, Nicholas Komarnycky.
Additionally, this coating has innumerable applications in home and commercial uses. We are seeing these developed now and expect they will come to market very soon along with the automotive applications.
“Our technology is not only innovative but cost effective. Its implementation in residential and commercial windows will have a profound impact on reducing electrical and fuel usage as well as reducing the end users energy costs. Third party studies have shown that homeowners lose up to 47% in heating ventilation and air conditioning costs through their windows. By utilizing our low cost high efficiency energy control coating on windows, a substantial amount of these losses could be easily and quickly recovered. This offers home owners and businesses a simple low cost method to have a quick return on investment.” says Nicholas Komarnycky, Founder/CEO of 3E Nano.
3E Nano is planning to use the $2.7M Sustainable Development Technology Canada fund award to build a demonstration plant and to put its prototype into production in Kitchener, Ontario, creating 30 to 33 new jobs at the same time.
