Architectural glass percent of the world's flat glass is produced by the float glass process invented in the 1950s by Sir Alastair Pilkington of Pilkington Glass, in which molten glass is poured onto one end of a molten tin bath. The glass floats on the tin, and levels out as it spreads along the bath, giving a smooth face to both sides. The glass cools and slowly solidifies as it travels over the molten tin and leaves the tin bath in a continuous ribbon. The glass is then annealed by cooling in an oven called a lehr. The finished product has near-perfect
Heated glass surface of the glass between the busbars must be flat. An electric current flows across the tin(II) oxide coating from one busbar to the other. The electrical resistance of the coating produces heat energy, which radiates from the glass. The busbars are connected to a power control unit that regulates the flow of electricity and thus the temperature of the glass. In modern architectural projects the heated glass is completely translucent. This technology uses a special metallic coating on the surface of the glass invisible to the naked human eye. A pane of heated glass can achieve temperatures up to