World demand for flat glass is forecast to rise 7.1% per year through 2016 to 9.2 billion m², according to “World Flat Glass,” a new study from The Freedonia Group Inc.

Over the years, glass building components such as windows have evolved from simply providing a transparent barrier against the outside environment to fundamentally altering design aesthetics and facilitating energy conservation through the reduction of energy and operating costs.

Kyocera Corp. recently announced that a solar project using the company’s solar modules has been awarded the 2012 Swiss Solar Prize: The wheelchairs of 10 inhabitants at the Quimby Huus, an institution for the physically disabled in St. Gallen, Switzerland, are driven exclusively using solar power.