## 3 Discussion and Assessment of Future Application Areas
Using this figure, an adjusted (however non-standard) estimate for the SY can be re-calculated, now exceeding 2240 kWh/kW\({}_{\text{p}}\). This SY figure estimate confirms the relative strengths of the energy harvesting approach using solar windows, compared to many common types of PV systems. These strengths are due to the improved efficiency of solar energy collection for light rays incident onto harvesting surfaces at large angles, which is a known characteristic of luminescent concentrator-type devices, including transparent energy-generating window systems. Significant seasonal variations in the daily amounts of generated energy are expected, due to local climate-related variables. A graphical summary of seasonal climate-related solar irradiation parameter variations for Perth, Australia is presented in Figure 7. It can be noted from Figure 7 that very strong monthly variations exist between the monthly-averaged direct-beam solar irradiation intensities, the horizontal-plane illuminance, and also the mean daily total sunshine hours. The local-basedmonthly distribution of peak output-equivalent sunshine hours for many Australian locations is also known from specialized PV industry sources (eg [45]), and generally scales in correlation with the mean daily total sunshine hours shown in Figure 7c. All of the above parameters are directly relevant to the expected daily energy generation from all PV module types; further, longer-term studies are necessary to generate the expected energy generation data per each calendar month. The results of this initial pilot-trial study of shopping center entrance-based solar windows installation lead to a preliminary conclusion regarding the generally expected suitability (and relevance) of transparent solar windows in commercial property-based settings. It is particularly important to note that the amounts (and usefulness) of the generated electric power and renewable energy both  
Figure 7: Seasonal yearly climate-related solar irradiation parameter variations for Perth, Australia. (**a**) Monthly averaged and maximum-recorded direct-beam solar irradiation intensities measured across horizontal plane; (**b**) monthly averaged and maximum-recorded direct-beam solar illuminance values measured across horizontal plane; (**c**) monthly distributions of the total daylight hours and the daily sunshine durations. The datasets shown in parts (**a**) and (**b**) have been obtained using COMFEN 5 software [46]; the dataset of part (**c**) has been published online by [31], using the publicly-available Australian Bureau of Meteorology data. scale favorably with the installation size, presuming that the geographic location is suitable, and the architectural design features are adjusted to maximizing the generated energy. For example, considering a semi-spherical dome-type installation housing 2000 m\({}^{2}\) of solar window surfaces, the diameter of this dome-shaped roof-based installation area will be near 35 m, a size not uncommon in shopping center properties. Based on 70 Wh/m\({}^{2}\) estimate for the system-averaged, seasonally-averaged daily energy generation, about 140 kWh of daily energy production can be expected. This corresponds to the total daily electric energy consumption requirements of about 10 3-bedroom Australian households. The area under the modelled solar-window dome and its surrounds will be approximately 40 m \(\times\) 40 m in footprint, requiring a square 21 \(\times\) 21 grid of 441 LED lamps separated by about 2 m. Presuming 30W LED lamps and using the calculated daily-average energy production figure, this area-lighting circuit of lamps can be run for approximately 10.5 hours. Accounting for the high visual transparency of windows, with \(>\)65% of total (direct and diffused) visible-range transparency, significant reduction in the lighting-related energy consumption can be predicted.