Development of aerogel windows

This paper gives a summary of the status of the project "Aerogel Windows", which is funded by the Council of the European Community as part of the Joule programme. The main goals of this project are the characterization of granular aerogel for window applications and the development of a production technology for these new elements and their testing. After a short theoretical introduction into the field of transparent insulation materials, an overview of the optical and thermal characteristics of first experimental samples is given. The paper includes a summary of the production technology and ends with an estimate of the application potential.