State Grant Backs ClearVue as AI Power Demand Soars

ClearVue Technologies won a US$500,000 grant from the United States Department of Energy as four ASX-listed companies pursued technologies linked to rising electricity demand from AI and data centres. Public money will help the company enter the US market and work with solar manufacturer Silfab Solar. The scale of the energy challenge is vast: the International Energy Agency estimates global data-centre electricity use will nearly double, from 485 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 950 TWh by 2030.

Who Gets to Build the Fix

The grant supports ClearVue and Silfab’s work on high-efficiency silicon solar spandrels: opaque sections of glass curtain walls that can make up a substantial part of a high-rise’s exterior. The first phase includes testing and demonstration at Silfab Solar’s advanced manufacturing facility in Burlington, Washington, along with an assessment of viable US manufacturing pathways. The Department of Energy initiative also funds technical development and performance validation.

ClearVue says its system can turn building surfaces into electricity-generating ones while preserving architectural design and thermal performance. The company designed its spandrel technology to generate up to 200 watts per square metre and fit standard framing. The project aims to take solar generation beyond rooftops, to façades, windows, skylights and spandrels.

Silfab’s US expansion includes a reported US$150 million investment in a solar-cell and module facility in York County, South Carolina, expected to create up to 800 jobs. ClearVue said US manufacturing could bring licensing revenue from its proprietary junction box and other technologies through a capital-light model that licenses intellectual property to established original equipment manufacturers. That’s the corporate route on offer: public support, private production and intellectual property licensing.

The report describes no community-led energy project, mutual-aid response or direct action around rising demand. Nor does it offer an electoral or legislative remedy; the responses it details run through companies, manufacturers and government-backed development. The United Nations Environment Programme says buildings and construction account for about 37 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions, but the report doesn’t explain how building occupants or the wider public would share the costs and benefits of these technologies.

From Glass Façades to AI Chips

During the September quarter, ClearVue moved forward with its solar glass and façade products. Its Gen 3 Vision Glass received IECEE CB, CE and TÜV MARK certifications, opening access to European and other international markets that recognize those standards. The company signed a binding subcontract to supply solar products for Canva’s new Sydney headquarters. The planned installation covers about 660 square metres of balustrades, skylights and rooftop panels, with estimated annual generation of 88,000 kilowatt-hours.

ClearVue and LandVac started a hotel trial in Macau to test the thermal and energy performance of an insulating solar window. Qatar University ordered about $15,000 of ClearVue glazing for greenhouse tests of electricity generation and cooling requirements. A separate company update said ClearVue had open proposals valued at more than A$60 million as of October last year, had secured its first European commercial project in Cyprus and had opened a regional headquarters and showroom in Hong Kong.

GCM Corporation reported a pipeline of 24 customer-specific products for its Very High Density graphite-based cooling technology; 18 had shipped for testing. Preliminary independent testing by a potential customer found VHD-equipped LED streetlight modules had surface temperatures 3.1°C and 3.3°C below comparable aluminium-based systems. More commercial testing remains necessary.

Strategic Elements moved ahead with a pilot of its EdgeiQ OnSite system at an underground mine run by a major global gold producer. Its Stealth Technologies business installed computing and networking infrastructure for operational testing and refinement. Weebit Nano, meanwhile, said a second customer had started silicon validation of chips containing its resistive random-access memory and successfully ran software using the integrated technology. The latest customer targeted production in calendar year 2027, subject to successful validation.

The Bosses’ Version of Progress

Weebit said a US customer study projected more than 80 times lower power consumption for one AI application than a GPU-based implementation, while noting that commercial deployment will require more research and development. Strategic Elements also reported work on Energy Ink, which generates small amounts of electricity from moisture; its initial aim is to charge a battery capable of powering a one-minute phone call.

“This was the quarter ClearVue moved from proving the technology to putting it to work,” said ClearVue managing director and CEO Doug Hunt. On the US grant, Hunt called it “another significant milestone for ClearVue” and said support from the Department of Energy alongside an established American solar manufacturer reinforced international recognition of the technology. The report named ClearVue Technologies, GCM Corporation, Strategic Elements and Weebit Nano as Stockhead advertisers and said it wasn’t financial product advice, urging readers to consider independent advice before making financial decisions.