At the 2nd International Technology Festival EnergoTechnoFest-2025, which brought together 4,000 innovators from 32 countries, postgraduate Sergey Lebedev of the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology (SPbGTI) presented a breakthrough development for intelligent control of large-format electrochromic glass. The project was carried out with the support of Octoglass — a global leader in electrochromic solutions. The system ranked among the top 10 finalists of the Energy Technology Hub Incubator competing for a 1 million ruble grant.
Key aspects of the development:
- Smart energy management. The system dynamically adjusts glass transparency and tinting in buildings, reducing air-conditioning costs by up to 40%.
- Integration with Octoglass products. The solution is compatible with the company’s electrochromic panels and provides centralized control through the United Lab platform. This eliminates manual setup and synchronizes devices from different manufacturers.
- Industrial application. The technology has been proven on Gazprom Neft facilities — a strategic partner of the festival. Alexander Dyukov, the company’s CEO, noted its potential for fuel and energy sector tasks and smart cities.
EnergoTechnoFest-2025 became a major platform for young engineers: participation grew fourfold compared with 2024. Saint Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov emphasized the festival’s role in implementing presidential directives on technological development. Over five years, support has been provided to 1,500 startups that created 5,000 innovative solutions.
About the developer:
Sergey Lebedev is a winner of the “Student of the Year 2021” competition in the scientific and technical creativity category. His research on electrochromic materials began at SPbGTI(TU) under the supervision of:
- Cand. Tech. Sci. Evgenia Sokhovich (nanomaterials chemistry);
- Cand. Phys.-Math. Sci. Valery Borodzyulya (physics of automated systems);
- Dr. Tech. Sci. Leon Rusinov (production automation).
Over the past year, Sergey’s team patented four inventions, won grants from the Skolkovo Foundation and the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), and the United Lab project entered Russia’s top 100 technology startups.
“Collaboration with electrochromic tinting manufacturer Octoglass opened access to industrial testing. Their expertise in scaling solutions helped adapt the system for skyscrapers,” Sergey noted in an interview.
Official EnergoTechnoFest website: https://energofest.ru/
