Water leak detection with FLIR one IR camera

IR image reveals blue areas noting water damage near bathroom water leak - N. Carlson

Infrared photo to the right of the door - N. Carlson

Part of the base cove has been removed in this photo to check for water damage.  Note that water damage is suggested by the lighter blue color in this FLIR one image in areas further to the right where the base cove has not been removed.

IR photo of same wall with a different color contrast - N. Carlson

Infrared imaging helps explain location of fungal growth on exterior wall

Flir One infrared image of exterior wall Feb 2017 - N. Carlson

The blue and purple colored areas are colder than the yellow and red areas on this infrared photo taken with a FLIR One infrared camera attached to a Samsung cellphone.

Dark areas of mold growth on an exterior sheetrock wall.

The space was used to store books and other materials.  The interior relative humidity was measured at 46%.  This allowed for condensation on the metal roof deck and for the equilibrium relative humidity on the sheetock over the metal studs to be greater than 70%. 

Energy collecting windows - U of Minnesota research

Luminescent Solar Concentrator - Steven Shimizu

Current silicon solar cells have an efficiency of 25%.  These cells are opaque (do not allow light to transmit through). Please see Standard silicon solar cell parameters (PV Education.org).

In a luminescent solar collector, the quantum silicon dots embedded or painted on transparent glass reflect light to the perimeter of the glass where solar collectors convert the light into energy.  This allows a window in a building to also work as a solar collector. Because silica is not an element in short supply, this allows for low cost and low efficiency (2.5 to 5%) solar energy collection. 
 
The U of M Brief publication article on Energy Collecting Windows now a Step Closer to Reality 
describes the process researchers used to construct the window based solar collectors. The abstract,
Highly efficient luminescent solar concentrators based on earth-abundant indirect-bandgap silicon quantum dots provides more information.  

The Clean Energy Institute lists resources and materials needed to construct a Luminescent Solar Concentrator.

Windows that collect solar energy - 2 min.