Phifer Solar Screen Fabrics
343 colourways in 17 designs of interior SheerWeave: the weave that keeps the water in the window and takes the glare out of it.
Keep the ocean, lose the glare
A solar screen is a woven fabric with a measured openness that you can see through. It stops most of the sun's heat and glare at the glass while the horizon, the pool and the boats stay readable through the weave. Phifer's interior SheerWeave range runs to 343 colourways in 17 designs, from the 0.1% Privacy weave through the 1%, 3%, 5% and 10% screens that cover most South Florida glass, up to the 14% SheerWeave 3000 and the 25% SheerWeave 1000. Some are vinyl-coated fiberglass, some vinyl on polyester, and the newest are woven from recycled polyester or from TPO with no vinyl at all.
Every design page shows each colourway with its openness and Phifer's published figures: Tv (visible light transmitted), Ts (solar energy transmitted), Rs (solar energy reflected) and As (absorbed), plus the solar heat gain coefficient behind single and insulating glass. Those numbers and the colour decide how the room behind the shade feels. In the 2500 family a Charcoal passes 2% of the visible light and absorbs 94% of the solar energy that hits it; an Oyster on the same card reflects 72% of it straight back out. We read the same table when we recommend a fabric for a particular exposure.
17 Phifer solar screen designs, 343 colourways
SheerWeave 2000/2100
The plain fiberglass basketweave, at 5% and 10%
SheerWeave 2500/2410/2390/2360
Four openness factors, one colour card, 126 inches wide
SheerWeave 2701/2703/2705/2710
Two-sided fiberglass weaves: face colour inside, back colour out
SheerWeave 3000
A 14% textured weave in nine colours you would not expect on a screen
SheerWeave 4000 Eco (4000/4001/4100/4400)
The heaviest screen in the range, with a bio-based plasticizer
SheerWeave 4500/4600
A thin, light polyester screen in ten warm and neutral colours
SheerWeave 4550/4650
A twill weave with a two-sided face, in four colours
SheerWeave 4800
A 1% screen in twelve solid colours, thick and near-opaque
SheerWeave 4901/4903
Thirteen colours at 1% and 3%, with the best acoustic figure in the library
SheerWeave 5000
A jacquard card of thirty-seven patterns, each with its own numbers
SheerWeave 5500
A decorative 5% sheer where the light comes through the yarn
SheerWeave 8000
100% polyester at 3%, Cradle to Cradle certified, 118 inches wide
SheerWeave Basic
Five colours, three openness factors, 126 inches, no extras
SheerWeave Infinity2
A TPO screen with no vinyl, in nine warm neutrals
SheerWeave RE-USE
85% REPREVE recycled polyester, three openness factors, 118 inches
SheerWeave Privacy
0.1% openness: daylight with no view, on the Eco colour card
SheerWeave 1000
A 25% open sheer in two whites, for view over control
How we choose the openness in South Florida
1%
Direct west and south-west glass, rooms with a television or monitors facing the window, and anywhere glare is the complaint. Styles 2500, 2701, 4001, 4800, 4901 and SheerWeave Basic all weave at 1%. In a light colour the view goes soft; in a Charcoal it stays sharp, because a dark yarn scatters less of the light it lets past.
3%
The default on the water. The horizon stays readable, glare is under control and heat gain drops sharply. Styles 2410, 2703, 4400, 4600, 4650, 4903, 8000, Basic, Infinity2 and RE-USE are all woven at 3%, which makes it the easiest openness to match across a whole building.
5%
View rooms under a terrace, filtered exposures and living rooms where the water is meant to be the picture. Styles 2000, 2390, 2705, 4000, 4500, 4550, 5500, Basic, Infinity2 and RE-USE weave at 5%. The five sliders at Bay Drive in Pompano Beach are 4000 Eco at 5%.
10% and more
North elevations and shaded glass where the view is the whole point: Styles 2100, 2360, 2710 and 4100 at 10%, SheerWeave 3000 at 14%, SheerWeave 1000 at 25%. Never on a west wall, where an open weave simply hands the glare to the room.
0.1%
SheerWeave Privacy is the outlier: 0.1% openness, no usable view, but still a daylight fabric rather than a blackout. It uses the same Eco colour card as the 4000 Eco screens, so one card covers a view room and a bathroom.
Light colour or dark colour?
Dark weaves give the clearest view and absorb the heat: SheerWeave 2500 in Charcoal absorbs 94% of the solar energy that reaches it and reflects 4%. Light weaves reflect the heat and haze the view: the same card in Oyster reflects 72% and absorbs 12%, and 4000 Eco in Eco/Chalk reflects 83%, as high as any interior SheerWeave in the library. On glass that already gets hot, a light or two-tone weave keeps more of the heat outside; where glare and view clarity are the whole brief, a dark weave wins and the room takes a little more warmth.
Two-tone weaves split the difference and let the inside and the outside be decided separately, which matters in a condo where the association governs how the building reads from the street. The 2701 family is built for that, with Oyster and Charcoal faces over a second colour on the back: Chestnut, Pewter, Slate, Taupe, Brown, Gray, Pearl Gray or Beige. Whatever the colour, a solar screen gives no privacy at night: with the lights on inside and the dark outside, it silhouettes. That is what a blackout or a light-filtering layer behind it is for.
Compare the solar screen designs
| Design | Colourways | Openness | Max width | Composition | PVC-free | NFPA 701 | Microban | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SheerWeave 2000/2100 | 20 | 5%, 10% | 126 in | 37% Fiberglass, 63% Vinyl on Fiberglass | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 2500/2410/2390/2360 | 44 | 1%, 3%, 5%, 10% | 126 in | 37% Fiberglass, 63% Vinyl on Fiberglass; 36% Fiberglass, 64% Vinyl on Fiberglass; 35% Fibe | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 2701/2703/2705/2710 | 44 | 1%, 3%, 5%, 10% | 126 in | 36% Fiberglass, 64% Vinyl on Fiberglass; 34% Fiberglass, 66% Vinyl on Fiberglass | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 3000 | 9 | 14% | 96 in | 67% Vinyl, 17.5% Fiberglass, 15.5% Polyester | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 4000 Eco (4000/4001/4100/4400) | 36 | 1%, 3%, 5%, 10% | 126 in | 25% Polyester, 75% Vinyl on Polyester (Over 50% of compound components are derived from cr | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 4500/4600 | 20 | 3%, 5% | 126 in | 22% Polyester, 78% Vinyl on Polyester; 17% Polyester, 83% Vinyl on Polyester | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 4550/4650 | 8 | 3%, 5% | 98 in | 17% Polyester, 83% Vinyl on Polyester | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 4800 | 12 | 1% | 126 in | 24% Polyester, 76% Vinyl on Polyester | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 4901/4903 | 26 | 1%, 3% | 98 in | 17% Polyester, 83% Vinyl on Polyester | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 5000 | 37 | - | 98 in | These results vary from pattern to pattern. Refer to individual colors. | No | Not listed | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave 5500 | 7 | 5% | 98 in | 21% Polyester, 74% Vinyl on Polyester (UK6 Driftwood is 31% Polyester, 69% Vinyl on Polyes | No | Not listed | Yes | Roller shades |
| SheerWeave 8000 | 7 | 3% | 118 in | 100% Polyester | Yes | Yes | No | Roller shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave Basic | 15 | 1%, 3%, 5% | 126 in | 38% Fiberglass, 62% Vinyl on Fiberglass | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave Infinity2 | 27 | 1%, 3%, 5% | 98 in | 100% TPO (Thermoplastic Olefin), 20% TPO Fiber Yarn/80% TPO Coating on TPO Yarn | Yes | Yes | No | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
| SheerWeave RE-USE | 24 | 1%, 3%, 5% | 118 in | 85% REPREVE® Recycled Polyester, 15% Virgin Polyester | Yes | Yes | No | Roller shades |
| SheerWeave Privacy | 5 | 0.1% | 126 in | 17% Polyester, 83% Vinyl on Polyester (Over 50% of compound components are derived from cr | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades |
| SheerWeave 1000 | 2 | 25% | 96 in | 35% Fiberglass, 65% Vinyl on Fiberglass | No | Yes | Yes | Roller shades, Roman shades and panel tracks |
Solar screens on our installations
On an ocean or Intracoastal wall in Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale or Sunny Isles we usually land on 3% or 5%: the horizon still reads through the weave, the glare off a white sofa is gone and the room stops heating by mid-afternoon. West and south-west glass gets 1%, and a golf course home in Boca Raton runs SheerWeave 2500 at 1% in Charcoal in the guest house for exactly that reason. Ten percent we keep for north elevations and covered terraces.
Solar screens: frequently asked
Which Phifer solar screen should I start with?
The 2500 family (2500, 2410, 2390 and 2360) is the one we quote most: eleven colours, four openness factors on one card, 126 inches wide and a full set of fire listings. If the brief calls for a bio-based plasticizer or a heavier hand, 4000 Eco. If it calls for no vinyl, SheerWeave 8000, Infinity2 or RE-USE.
Can one colour run through a whole house at different openness factors?
Yes, and it is how we handle a whole floor. The 2500, 2701 and 4000 Eco families each offer 1%, 3%, 5% and 10% in the same colours, so the hot elevations get the tighter weave and the shaded ones the more open weave while the house reads as one fabric. We map every window's exposure at measurement and assign the openness room by room. Our openness guide walks through it.
Do Phifer solar screens give privacy at night?
No. At any openness, a lit room behind a solar screen silhouettes to anyone outside. Pair the screen with a blackout or a light-filtering shade on a dual roller, or with a drapery, where night privacy matters. SheerWeave Privacy at 0.1% is the closest a screen-type weave gets, and even that is a daylight fabric rather than a night one.
How wide can one shade be?
The widest rolls Phifer publishes are 126 inches, on the 2500 and 2701 families, 4000 Eco, 4500/4600, 4800, SheerWeave Basic and Privacy. SheerWeave 8000 and RE-USE are 118 inches, 5000 is 74 or 98, and 4901/4903 and Infinity2 are 98. Beyond the roll width an opening is covered by two shades on one headrail, aligned at a mullion.
Which of these are fire rated?
Nearly all of them. Most SheerWeave screens carry California Title 19, NFPA 701 TM#1 and TM#2, NFPA 101 Class A, IBC Section 803.1.1 Class A, BS 5867 Part 2 Type B and CAN/ULC-S 109. The exceptions are worth knowing: SheerWeave 5000 publishes no fire listing at all, and SheerWeave 5500 lists California Technical Bulletin 117 only, so neither suits a commercial specification that requires NFPA 701.
Phifer solar screens in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton & Palm Beach
Every fabric on this page is sourced directly from Phifer, cut and finished in our Fort Lauderdale workroom on Lutron, Somfy, Crestron or manual hardware, and installed by our own team from Miami to Palm Beach. Our showrooms in Fort Lauderdale (4539 Powerline Rd, by appointment) and Miami Beach (500 South Pointe Dr #150) have motorized shades running so you can judge the fabrics in motion.
Choose the fabric in your own light
Book a complimentary in-home consultation. Shortlist the designs you like and we bring the Phifer sample books, demo motors, and honest answers about openness, colour and exposure.