Self-Cleaning Glass Market: Huge Growth Opportunities and Forecast to 2025

Self-cleaning glass is a low maintenance glass made by depositing a thin layer of chemical that has photolytic and hydrophilic properties, which makes the glass easier to clean. Self-cleaning glass is fog and glare resistant. The material applied doesn’t alter the usual properties of glass, such as mechanical, thermal and acoustic properties. Self-cleaning glass is a quintessential part of hard to reach areas for manual cleaning, such as facades and exterior shop fronts. It has a layer of titanium oxide over the surface that undergoes a chemical reaction on the surface, thus breaking dirt and other materials into smaller pieces that can be easily washed off by rain or on the application of water. The layer is also hydrophilic (water loving) in nature, unlike normal glass, which is hydrophobic. As a result, on the application of water on the surface, water spreads evenly across the glass and wipes off the dirt.

Drivers

The rising demand for solar power is anticipated to drive the global self-cleaning glass market. Most solar cells/panels lose their efficiency by over 40%, due to the accumulation of dirt. With the use of self-cleaning glass, the efficiency of solar panels could be improved to a greater extent.

Self-cleaning glass is an environment friendly alternative as it reduces water consumption during cleaning and doesn’t require further use of chemicals to clean the surface.

With growing awareness about aesthetics and appearance, there has been an increase in the demand for such products. The major benefit of using self-cleaning glass is that it has saved a lot of maintenance cost, time and effort. Rapid industrialization and development have led to the construction of skyscrapers. These are hard to reach areas to clean and with time such buildings lose their aesthetic beauty. As a result, in the current scenario, there is a greater demand for this glass.

Restraints

One of major challenges faced by the global self-cleaning glass market is the high price point as compared to conventional glass. Self-cleaning glass doesn’t completely clean itself automatically, rather it makes the glass easier to clean. As a result, people prefer using conventional glasses. Additionally, there is a lack of awareness among people in developing countries about self-cleaning glass technology, which is restraining market growth.

Trends

The trend observed in the global self-cleaning glass market is the use of self-cleaning glass for non-conventional applications, such as for smartphone and tablet screens to make them smudge free. Moreover, self-cleaning glass is used to make car windows non reflective.