Phifer’s Infinity2 Fabric is composed of ThermoPlastic Olefin fibers, and is both made from recycled materials and can be recycled. Solar Screen Shades again strike the perfect balance, allowing just the right amount of light into an interior space, with complete control over that balance in the hands of the user. Mid- and high level clouds can cause significant light diffusion and high levels of glare even when the sun isn’t directly visible. Even areas without high insolation values can have uncomfortable levels of glare. Glare control in low insolation areasĮnergy saving is important, but so is comfort. Light colored High Performance fabrics both reduce heat gain and provide excellent view-through, due to the reflectivity of the metallized exterior of the fabric preventing light from flowing through the fabric itself.
Even dark colors, which are traditionally less effective at reducing heat gain, have excellent thermal protection in high performance fabrics. High performance solar screen fabrics reflect more of that heat energy and absorb less, therefore decreasing the interior temperature increase. That absorbed energy is converted to thermal energy, or heat, inside the structure. Some of the radiation will be absorbed and the remainder reflected.
Green screen shade windows#
Windows are struck by solar radiation, as are the shades within. What makes high performance fabrics so effective? Users can strike the perfect balance between glare control and increasing or decreasing solar heat gain at windows, whereas other types of window treatments block the view to block the sun. Solar Screen Shades are particularly effective in passive solar applications, because they allow complete control over how much the shade is lowered during winter to take advantage of winter insolation to warm a building. West facing windows have the same issues as east facing windows, except that they experience even more heat gain during summer afternoons because they get direct sun during the hottest part of the day. South facing windows collect solar heat the best during winter, and are easier to shade during the summerĮast facing windows lose significant amounts of heat in winter, and seasonal sun path angles cause direct sunshine and allow more heat gain on summer mornings. North facing windowsexperience the least heat gain, receiving early morning sun and the late afternoon summer sun, which has such a great angle of incidence that most of the radiation is either reflected by the glass or blocked by walls flanking the windows Insolation and orientationĬities at lower latitudes receive higher insolation levels, and therefore have greater cooling concerns, and the orientation of the window (facing North, South, East or West) also significantly affects the amount of heat gain a window will allow. The amounts are also affected seasonally, with the sun’s path changing slowly between summer and winter. Insolation: a measure of solar radiation energy that strikes a given surface area during a specified period of time.ĭue to the path of the sun in the sky over various geographical locations (with different latitudes), different parts of the USA and Canada receive differing amounts of solar radiation throughout the year. Insolation, architecture and energy management: Insolation ( INcident SOLar radi ATION) where YOU live