We all know that sunlight is a blessing. It powers the entire planet, and improves our mood when we’re feeling down. An adequate amount of sun light is also necessary indoors. We all know that all good houses have windows that let in a lot of light.
However, what happens when there’s too much sunlight entering your room? It can make your room warmer than other parts of the house. It can also make it harder for your AC to cool the room, increasing your energy bills.
As such, it is important to look at ways to counteract the issue. These days, solar screens come highly recommended to deal with this problem. Today we’ll answer some basic questions such as, what are solar screens, what are their types, what are their benefits and much more.
What are Solar Screens?
First things first, what are solar screens? Simply put, solar screens are window treatments that hinder the entry of direct sunlight into your room. You can choose exterior or interior screens, though exterior screens are more popular.
The reason for their popularity is that they don’t take away the view outside your window, unlike other methods. It also performs better when keeping the negative effects of sunlight out of your room. So, let’s take a look at some their benefits.
What are the Benefits of Solar Screens?
Solar screens offer several benefits such as:
- UV Protection: Solar screens prevent the entry of harmful UV rays into your room. Prolonged exposure to UV rays can cause skin cancer. Solar shades allow you to enjoy the sunlight in your room without having to worry about the negative consequences.
- Light Management: They also control the amount of light entering your room. This can come in handy for rooms which are directly in the path of the sun. Reduced light entering a room can make it a more comfortable living space.
- Heat Control: Sunlight is accompanied by heat. Too much sunlight entering a room is bound to make it warmer than other parts of the house. Solar screens are able to reduce the amount of heat coming from sunlight, offering your room insulation without making it dark.
- Glare Reduction: Glare from the sun can make it hard to concentrate. Solar screens reduce this, allowing you to relax in your room comfortably.
Solar screens outperform the competition because they offer all these things without a significant loss of the view outside.
What are the Types of Solar Screens?
Now that we know what are solar screens and their benefits. Let’s take a look at the types of solar screens that are available.
Solar Control Film
Most solar screens come as a woven mesh fabric. You can choose a film based on its openness factor. The openness factor is a percentage from 0 to 14 that tells you how much light the mesh will let through.
3-5% offers low openness. With such materials, you will have the highest degree of protection, but the lowest degree of visibility. Medium openness is at 7% to 10%. It offers greater visibility but slightly lower protection. 14% openness still offers general protection, and also gives you the best view.
Window Shades
Window shades are indoor solar screens. These are retractable, which means that they can be used when required and then withdrawn when not needed. These are useful if you want solar screens during the summers, but not during the winters.
Dark Colored Shades
Dark-colored shades have higher solar absorbance, meaning they are able to absorb more heat and light. As such they are able to offer superior glare and heat control. They also have lower visible light transmission, so they are able to reduce the amount of light getting through to your room.
Light Colored Shades
Light-colored shades on the other hand have higher reflective properties. This is termed as solar reflectance. Higher solar reflectance allows them to reflect more heat. They also have higher visible light transmission, meaning that more light enters the room.
How Do Solar Screens Work?
Solar screens are made up of a mesh of different fabrics. The different materials have their own unique properties. When combined, the final fabric has the ideal properties to achieve all the benefits offered by a solar screen.
Sunlight consists of three kinds of radiation. Solar screens deal with each type to bring about the desired effect. The three types are:
- The Visible Spectrum – Light
- Infrared Rays – Heat
- UV Light – Invisible radiation
Blocking out UV rays helps the screens keep your room cool. This in turn, increases your energy savings. Blocking out UV rays protects you from skin cancer, and reduces the aging skin. It also reduces the harmful effect of sunlight on your furniture such as splitting and fading. Blocking sunlight reduces glare and ensures visual comfort.
Our Final Thoughts
Now you know what solar screens are, you should be better equipped to make a decision. Something is always better than nothing, but when stacked up against the other options, solar screens perform better across the board. As such, they are the obvious choice.
