Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildings

Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) glass, with its controllable light transmittance enabling shading and energy savings, is widely used in green and smart buildings as a key technology for smart windows and privacy glass. However, traditional PDLC drivers are bulky, consume high energy, and off...

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Main Authors: Kun-Che Ho, Rui-Feng Xu, Cheng-Xun Wu, Jia-Zheng Liao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:HardwareX
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067225000264
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author Kun-Che Ho
Rui-Feng Xu
Cheng-Xun Wu
Jia-Zheng Liao
author_facet Kun-Che Ho
Rui-Feng Xu
Cheng-Xun Wu
Jia-Zheng Liao
author_sort Kun-Che Ho
collection DOAJ
description Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) glass, with its controllable light transmittance enabling shading and energy savings, is widely used in green and smart buildings as a key technology for smart windows and privacy glass. However, traditional PDLC drivers are bulky, consume high energy, and offer limited functionality, restricting their application in multi-panel glass control and space-constrained scenarios. This study proposes a low-power, adjustable mini driver that utilizes Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signals and a full-bridge inverter architecture to generate AC square waves. By integrating simple analog and digital circuit designs, digital resistors, and specialized adjustable power modules, remote voltage and frequency modulation control is achieved, enabling efficient and flexible PDLC driver development. Compared to traditional transformer designs, the developed driver not only offers the advantages of miniaturization and high efficiency but also can flexibly adapt to diverse application scenarios such as office privacy glass, smart buildings, and multi-zone linkage control. This research provides an effective solution for the widespread application of PDLC technology and the advancement of smart buildings. Finally, the functionality of the proposed design is verified through hardware circuit implementation and experimental validation.
format Article
id doaj-art-d3105e89e5c1422db69c2076757352e7
institution OA Journals
issn 2468-0672
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series HardwareX
spelling doaj-art-d3105e89e5c1422db69c2076757352e72025-08-20T02:35:36ZengElsevierHardwareX2468-06722025-06-0122e0064810.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00648Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildingsKun-Che Ho0Rui-Feng Xu1Cheng-Xun Wu2Jia-Zheng Liao3Corresponding author.; Department of Automation Engineering, National Formosa University, Yulin, TaiwanDepartment of Automation Engineering, National Formosa University, Yulin, TaiwanDepartment of Automation Engineering, National Formosa University, Yulin, TaiwanDepartment of Automation Engineering, National Formosa University, Yulin, TaiwanPolymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) glass, with its controllable light transmittance enabling shading and energy savings, is widely used in green and smart buildings as a key technology for smart windows and privacy glass. However, traditional PDLC drivers are bulky, consume high energy, and offer limited functionality, restricting their application in multi-panel glass control and space-constrained scenarios. This study proposes a low-power, adjustable mini driver that utilizes Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signals and a full-bridge inverter architecture to generate AC square waves. By integrating simple analog and digital circuit designs, digital resistors, and specialized adjustable power modules, remote voltage and frequency modulation control is achieved, enabling efficient and flexible PDLC driver development. Compared to traditional transformer designs, the developed driver not only offers the advantages of miniaturization and high efficiency but also can flexibly adapt to diverse application scenarios such as office privacy glass, smart buildings, and multi-zone linkage control. This research provides an effective solution for the widespread application of PDLC technology and the advancement of smart buildings. Finally, the functionality of the proposed design is verified through hardware circuit implementation and experimental validation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067225000264Green buildingEnergy savingPDLCMicro driver
spellingShingle Kun-Che Ho
Rui-Feng Xu
Cheng-Xun Wu
Jia-Zheng Liao
Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildings
HardwareX
Green building
Energy saving
PDLC
Micro driver
title Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildings
title_full Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildings
title_fullStr Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildings
title_full_unstemmed Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildings
title_short Design and implementation of an adjustable Micro PDLC Driver for smart buildings
title_sort design and implementation of an adjustable micro pdlc driver for smart buildings
topic Green building
Energy saving
PDLC
Micro driver
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067225000264
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AT chengxunwu designandimplementationofanadjustablemicropdlcdriverforsmartbuildings
AT jiazhengliao designandimplementationofanadjustablemicropdlcdriverforsmartbuildings