Learn More About Solar Shades
Solar screen fabrics are unique in that they are specifically designed to maintain the view and connection to the outside. Fabric color and openness each affect the clarity of the view, as well as heat, glare, and UV performance. Light is powerful. That’s why it doesn’t take much openness in solar fabrics to provide excellent view-through. Solar shade fabrics are woven to very precise standards, controlling the amount of surface area that is left open. Solar shade fabrics are woven to very precise standards, controlling the amount of surface area that is left open and provides direct view-through. Fabrics with openness between 3% and 10% provide excellent levels of view-through in combination with excellent levels of solar performance.
Fabric Openess
Solar screen fabrics, also known as “technical” fabrics are woven to very precise standards, with a consistent, measurable degree of fabric openness. That openness determines how much direct visibility there will be through the fabric. That direct visibility is still affected by fabric color and the amount of reflection and diffusion.
Very low openness factor fabrics, such 1% or 3%, offer less direct view through, whereas very open fabrics, such as 10% openness, allow a great deal of direct view through.
We offer fabrics from 1% open to 14% open to address the requirements of individual applications, and this openness in combination with fabric color determines the heat, glare, and UV performance of each fabric.
Fabric Color
The color of a fabric affects what happens to the visible sunlight that strikes it. Some light is reflected, some passes through the open spaces in the fabric, and some is diffused by the fabric yarns themselves.
Light colors diffuse more light, allowing it to pass through the yarns into the interior. This lessens the clarity of the view-through, but provides filtered light and an airy atmosphere.
Dark colors block more visible light so that less comes into the room. Light enters through the open spaces in the fabric, but not through the yarns themselves– there is plenty of light for our eyes to see in comfort, much like the effect of sunglasses.
High performance solar fabrics allow light to pass through the fabric openings, but not through the yarns, even those of light color. This means that light-colored high performance fabric solar shades provide a clearer view just like their dark-colored counterparts.