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Solar Shades and their ability to block the sun, not the view

Posted on by Steven

Solar shades are becoming extremely popular for commercial businesses as well as residential homes. Solar shades offer quality, comfort, and energy efficiency all rolled up in a single beautiful shade. Block the sun, not the view! 

There are several key elements to solar shades and their ability to block the sun, not the view. They range from: VLT, SHGC, fabric openness, and fabric performance factors. We will touch on these topics below so you’ll have a better understanding of each topic, their key features and how they apply to your home or business.

Visible Light Transmission and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient

Given that glare control and heat reduction are the primary reasons consumers purchase solar screen shades it is important to understand VLT (Visible Light Transmission) and SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient)

VLT is the percentage of visible light that comes into a room. Lower VLT values indicate better glare reduction. Ultimately, you would like to have your tv value around 8-14. Lighter fabrics can block the heat extremely effectively; however they can also raise your VLT value…of course this all depends on the fabric and openness being applied. 

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SHGC is the percentage of incident solar radiation that is transmitted as heat to the interior through the glass and shading system. Lower SHGC values indicate better heat reduction. Being in the range of .13 to .39 is ideal.

SilverScreen fabric has one of the top rated SHGC values, coming in at a staggering .13 range! Great for those long, high ceiling glass panel windows that harvest cubicle environments. Keeping employees cool and with no glare shining on their computer screens or eyes, increases work productivity for sure. 

Fabric Openness

Precise levels of openness in the weave of solar screen fabric affect both view-through and glare performance.

Fabric openness typically range from 1%, 3%, 5%, to 10%. The lower the openness the “tighter” the weave. Thus, a 10% openness will provide a stronger view-through, while 1% will have a reduced view-through with greater glare protection.

    • More open fabrics with looser weaves allow better view-through and less glare protection.
  • Less open fabrics with denser weaves provide reduced view-through and greater glare protection.
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10% Openness

Fabric Performance Factors

  • Basketweave for best view-through
  • Metallized fabric for high performance
  • Decorative textured screen fabrics

UV Control

Ultraviolet rays are the sun’s spectrum that cause harm, though they are not visible.

Depending on the openness, solar shades block up to 99% of damaging UV rays, providing protection for furnishings and finishes.

Metallized fabric such as Silver Screen’s high performance fabrics protect your assets from harmful UV rays, while providing the best glare and heat protection regardless of color. Excellent view-through and glare reduction in light colors, and excellent heat reduction in dark colors.

As you can tell, there are a plethora of benefits provided to the end user when solar shades are applied. Nevertheless, with so many great benefits for all the outlined circumstances, it can be overwhelming when choosing the perfect application for your business or home. There are many underlining factors involved that really need to be considered and understood by the end-user…good thing here is, we are here to help!