TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The silica based nanoparticles in the coating sol formulation have a shape i.e. spherical, elongated, and/or disc-shaped. The spherical particles have a particle size of 40-50 nm or 17-23 nm. The elongated particles have a diameter of 9-15 nm and length of 40-100 nm.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The method comprises: curing the coating via heating; and forming a gel on the glass substrate by drying the coating sol formulation coated on the glass substrate prior to annealing the coated glass substrate. The coating step comprises spin coating or dip coating. In the method, a visible transmittance is increased by at least 2.8% as a result of the coating i.e. applied and cured on the glass substrate. The heating step is carried out at a temperature of at least 580 degrees C for at least 1 minute. The aging step comprises aging the coating sol formulation for at least 3 weeks to provide the aged coating sol formulation. The coating is applied directly on the glass substrate. The aging step is carried out: for at least 10 days, preferably for at least 2 weeks; and at a room temperature. Preferred Composition: The coating sol formulation further includes an acid or base containing catalyst. The coating sol formulation includes water, acetic acid and n-propyl alcohol. Preferred Components: The alkyltrialkoxysilane-based binder has a structure of formula (R4-Si-((O-R1)(O-R2)(O-R3))), preferably n-propyltriethoxysilane, n-pentyltriethoxysilane, n-hexyltriethoxysilane, and/or cyclohexyltrimethoxysilane. The mass ratio of the tri-alkoxysilane based binder and tetra-alkoxysilane based binder to the silica based nanoparticles in the coating sol formulation is 0.1:1-20:1. The tri-alkoxysilane based binder comprises 10-80 wt.% of ash contribution in the total ash content of the coating formulation. The amount of tetra-alkoxysilane based binder is 15-80 (preferably 40-60) wt.%. The thickness of the coating after curing is 120-140 nm. The refractive index of the coating following curing is 1.25-1.30. The tetra-alkoxysilane based binder comprises tetraethyl orthosilicate. The solvent comprises an alcohol containing solvent, preferably n-propanol.R1-R3 = 1-20C alkyl, 6-20C aryl, or 7-20C aralkyl; andR4 = 1-20C alkyl, 6-20C aryl, 7-20C aralkyl, or fluoro-modified 1-20C alkyl.