Motorized Solar Shades & Blinds

Solar shades do their best work on the windows that are hardest to reach: a wall of glass in a great room, a tall window over a stair, a row of panes in a sunroom. They cut glare and soften strong sun while keeping the view, which is exactly why you want to move them several times a day as the sun comes round. Motorized solar shades and blinds take the effort out of that. One button, a schedule or a voice command lowers a whole run of screens together. Every shade is made to measure for your windows and shipped direct to your door.

Choosing a motorized solar shade

A solar shade is a screen fabric with a set openness, the share of the weave that lets light and view through. Our solar screens come in 1%, 3%, 5% and 10% openness. Lower openness blocks more glare and gives more daytime privacy; higher openness keeps more of the view and more daylight. A 1% or 3% screen suits a west-facing room or a TV wall, while 5% or 10% keeps a garden or water view clear in a sunroom. The range covers eleven colors, from light neutrals to charcoal.

Solar screens filter light rather than darken a room. For a bedroom or media room where you want real darkness, pair them with blackout roller shades on the same motors and remote, or choose blackout for those windows on their own.

Motors, sizes and smart control

Every motor runs from a remote and stores two end positions plus four intermediate stops, so a screen can sit at a set height every afternoon. Choose the power and control that fit your home:

• Battery motor: rechargeable, reaching a full charge in about four hours. A solar charger can keep it powered, the easy answer for high windows.
• Plug-in motor: runs from an outlet, with a cable that can be made to length.
• Zigbee motor: connects directly to several Echo devices with no hub. Other Alexa devices need a hub.
• Matter motor: joins Apple Home through a HomePod and also works with Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant.

Size depends on the housing. On the squared cassette, a motorized solar shade runs from 20 1/8 to 94 1/2 inches wide and up to 118 inches high. For bigger glass, the large cassette with a heavier tube reaches 118 inches wide and 120 inches high, and any shade over 100 inches high is built on that larger system. Our solar screen fabrics are milled on 118 inch rolls, so wide orders are not held back by the fabric.

Measuring and DIY install

Choose inside mount for a clean, built-in look inside a deep frame, or outside mount to cover the trim and overlap the glass. Measure each window on its own and order the exact sizes; each shade is built to the numbers you give us.

Fitting needs only a drill. Screw each bracket in through two of its four holes on opposite sides, using the anchors that match your wall, or all four on a wide shade or a soft wall. Hook the groove at the top of the cassette onto the bracket latch and press it back until it clicks, then check that the top and rear of each bracket have locked. Charge a battery motor fully before first use, then pair the remote and set the top and bottom positions.

Motorized solar shades and blinds keep big, sunny windows comfortable all day without anyone climbing a ladder. Pick an openness for your view, a motor for your home, and we will make them to measure and ship them straight to you.