Patent ID: 8218223

Claim:
A process for switching an electrochromic cell comprising at least the following components: a first and a second electrode layer; a first and a second layer, in which ions may be reversibly inserted; and an ion-conducting layer; wherein at least the first layer, in which ions may be reversibly inserted, is electrochromic; and wherein the first and the second layer, in which ions may be reversibly inserted, are counter electrodes to each other; comprising the steps of: measuring continuously the current (i C ) flowing through the cell when a voltage is applied to the electrode layers; and applying a voltage to the electrode layers and varying the applied voltage in steps of 10-100 mV as a function of current, such that the voltage generated between the electrode layers is kept within predetermined temperature-dependent safe redox limits, and the cell current is limited to predetermined temperature-dependent limits, wherein the applied voltage is only increased if the cell current is less than a maximum cell current (i max ), determined according to i max =( j max ×Area)+( T−T 0 )× F , where j max is current density, Area is the active cell area, T is the temperature of the electrochromic element, and T 0 is a reference temperature wherein a factor F allows for modification of the current according to temperature, thereby allowing modification of switching speed with respect to temperature.