Solar Powered Shades & Blinds

Motorized shades solve the reach problem until the battery runs low. Then someone has to fetch a ladder, take the shade down and plug it in. On a high window, a two-story wall or a row of clerestory glass, that chore is the reason many people never motorize at all. Solar powered shades and blinds answer it with a small solar charger that tops up the motor's battery from daylight, so the shade keeps running without a trip up the ladder. Every shade on this page can be ordered with a battery motor and the solar charger add-on, made to your measurements and shipped direct.

Which shades and blinds to pair with a solar charger

Solar shades are the natural match. The windows that get enough sun to charge a panel are usually the same windows that need glare and heat control, and a solar screen fabric cuts both while you keep the view. Light filtering roller shades soften strong daylight in a living room or stairwell. Blackout roller shades suit a bedroom with a high window that would otherwise be left bare because nobody can reach it. Woven wood shades bring bamboo, jute and grass weaves to a tall great room window. Light filtering and blackout cellular shades take a battery motor in the head rail, and the solar charger is offered as an add-on there too.

A design note for tall walls: when several high windows sit together, order the same fabric and color for all of them so the wall reads as one calm surface when every shade is lowered.

Motors, minimum widths and charging

Our motor spec documents solar power for the standard RF433 battery motor, a 25 mm motor with a 2600 mAh rechargeable lithium pack. It runs from a remote out of the box and reaches Alexa or Google Home through an RF hub. It stores six stopping points: an upper limit, a lower limit and four positions in between.

The motor has to fit inside the tube or head rail, and that sets a minimum width. On our squared roller cassette a motorized shade starts at 20 1/8 inches wide, on the large cassette at 20 1/2 inches, and on the open roll at 21 1/4 inches. Motorized woven wood needs 25 1/4 inches with the lithium motor and is made up to 96 inches wide and 118 inches high. Motorized cellular starts at 23 inches wide and reaches 126 inches wide, but stops at 79 inches high, so a very tall window is better served by roller or woven wood.

It helps to know how the battery behaves. On the wall charger a full charge takes about four hours at 5 volts and 1 amp, with a red light while charging and green when full. At 6.2 volts or below the red light flashes and the motor drops to jog mode, and at 5.5 volts it stops. The supplier asks for at least a six hour charge every six months to protect the battery, which is exactly the job a solar charger takes off your list on a window you would rather not reach.

Measuring and installing it yourself

For an inside mount, take the width at the top, middle and bottom and use the smallest, rounded down to the nearest 1/8 inch, then measure the height on both sides and use the smaller number. Send us the exact figures and the factory applies its own deductions.

Roller and zebra shades hang on a cassette bracket. Drill with a 0.2 inch (6 mm) bit, choose the anchor in the box that matches drywall or masonry, and fix each bracket through two of its four holes on opposite sides. Hook the valance groove onto the latch, press back until it clicks, then check that both the top and rear have locked before you let go. Set the upper and lower limits with the shade in its final position, because each can be fine-tuned only once.

Order samples to judge the fabric in your own light, then measure, add the solar charger and let daylight handle the charging.