Solar Shades
Solar shades are woven screen fabrics rated by openness: 1% for maximum heat and glare control, 3% for most South Florida glass, 5% and 10% where the view and daylight matter more. Exotic Shades & Draperies fabricates them in Fort Lauderdale with Mermet and Phifer screens woven in the USA and the full Lutron library and installs them from Miami Beach to Palm Beach.
Keep the view. Lose the heat.
Floor-to-ceiling glass is why you bought the home - and why it is 90 degrees at 4pm. Solar shades are woven screen fabrics measured in openness factor: a 3% weave blocks roughly 97% of UV while preserving the water view; 1% maximizes heat rejection; 5%-10% keeps the outlook airiest. The right factor per exposure is the whole craft.
Recently: Turnberry Ocean Club, Sunny Isles Beach - Mermet E-Screen 5% White/Linen on the ocean and Intracoastal exposures, keeping the view open through the glare. Also: Salato, Pompano Beach - E Screen 3% where the side of the building hits the dining glass, 5% on the ocean to keep the view, same White/White fabric throughout.
We spec openness and fabric color window by window - darker weaves read clearer to the eye, lighter weaves reflect more heat - then fabricate each shade to the millimeter in our own workroom. Most solar shades we install are motorized, riding schedules that follow the sun.
See it on the water: an oceanfront residence on Bay Drive, Pompano Beach - Phifer SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5% in Alabaster across five sliders, the horizon still reading through the weave.
Solar screen fabric by the numbers
Total solar transmittance (Ts)
Mermet E Screen charcoal: 3% at 1% openness, 5% at 3%, 7% at 5%, 12% at 10%. E Screen white: 14%, 16%, 20% and 25% at the same openness, because white transmits more light and reflects the rest.
Reflectance and view
E Screen White/White 3% reflects 73% of solar energy and rates 17% view-through; Charcoal/Grey 3% reflects 10%, absorbs 85% and rates 42% view-through. Dark weaves see out, light weaves bounce heat.
Fabric and fire rating
E Screen is 36% fiberglass, 64% vinyl, 120 in usable width, rated NFPA 701 and California Title 19. Across the Lutron library, 526 colourways carry an NFPA 701 rating and 376 carry Title 19.
Range we carry
The Lutron library lists 107 solar-screen colourways at 1%, 128 at 3%, 95 at 5% and 42 at 10%, across E Screen, T Screen, M Screen, Basketweave, Sheerweave 4900, SheerLite, Aura and others; every one can be ordered as a memo sample.
Openness sets the view. Colour sets the heat.
Two numbers decide a solar screen. Openness is how much of the weave is open: it sets how much you see through the fabric and how much light comes in. Colour decides what happens to the sun's energy that hits the yarn. A white weave reflects most of it back out through the glass; a charcoal weave absorbs most of it, warms up, and in return gives the sharpest view. The tiles compare Mermet E Screen at 3% openness, the weave on most of our oceanfront work, in White/White and in Charcoal/Grey. Mermet's published solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) for the two as an interior shade behind residential glass: 0.28 for the white, 0.60 for the charcoal.
Figures: Lutron fabric specifications for E Screen White/White S0202-E-3 and Charcoal/Grey S3001-E-3; SHGC from the Mermet USA E Screen 3% spec sheet (interior shade, residential glazing). Retrieved September 2026.
Read next: Openness 1% vs 3% vs 5% vs 10% · Dark or light solar shade fabric? · KOOLBLACK: charcoal that reflects
Glare or view: what we specified on real South Florida glass, and why
Openness is a trade. Every point of view-through you keep is light you let in, and every point of glare you remove costs some of the water. These are the choices we made on recent installations, with the mill's numbers beside them, so you can see where your own windows sit.
| Openness | Where we installed it | What it gave the room | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | Turnberry Ocean Club, Sunny Isles Beach: Mermet E Screen 5% White/Linen on the ocean and Intracoastal exposures. Trump Tower III, Sunny Isles Beach: E Screen 5% White/White on every roller, recessed in ceiling pockets. Bay Drive, Pompano Beach: Phifer SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5% in Alabaster across five sliders. | Glare and heat down with the horizon still legible through the weave. Lutron rates the Turnberry fabric at 29% view-through with 16% of the daylight passing. | Privacy after dark, and a quiet west wall at 5 pm: a white 5% screen still passes about a sixth of the daylight. |
| 3% | Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach: T Screen 3% White (17% view-through, 16% daylight). Oceanfront condo, Boca Raton: Paris 3% in Blanc on an east wall that takes the morning sun straight on. Landmark Ranch Estates: Paris 3% in the offices and the family room. Salato, Pompano Beach: E Screen 3% where the side of the building hits the dining glass, 5% on the ocean, one colour throughout. | Our default on sun-facing glass: the glare is gone and the water is still there, softened. | In white, a 3% weave rates 17% view-through against 28% at 5%. The view softens noticeably; that is the price of the glare control. |
| 1% and under | Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach: Lutron Basketweave Pearl 1%, 3% of the daylight through and 67% of the sun's energy reflected. Golf-course home, Boca Raton: Phifer SheerWeave 2500 1% in V21 Charcoal, about 2% of the daylight through, the course still sharp through the dark yarn. The Hemispheres, Hallandale Beach: Mermet Elba Daylight, under 1%, in the living areas. | The most glare and UV control a screen can give; a dark yarn keeps the outline of the view. | In a light colour it is not a view fabric: at under 1% you see light and shadow, not the canal, so it is a shade you raise for the view and lower for the glare. |
Lutron's ratings for Mermet E Screen in white and in charcoal
The number that decides the view is not openness alone. The same 1% weave rates 1% view-through in white and 25% in charcoal, because a dark yarn disappears to the eye. The dark yarn absorbs the sun's energy instead of reflecting it, which is the other half of the trade (the tiles above put the heat figures side by side).
| Openness | White/White view-through | White/White daylight (Tv) | Charcoal/Grey view-through | Charcoal/Grey daylight (Tv) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1% | 1% | 11% | 25% | 2% |
| 3% | 17% | 13% | 42% | 5% |
| 5% | 28% | 17% | 56% | 7% |
| 10% | 50% | 22% | 81% | 11% |
Ratings: Lutron fabric specifications for E Screen White/White (S0202-E) and Charcoal/Grey (S3001-E), retrieved September 2026. View-through is Lutron's rating of how clearly the fabric sees out; daylight (Tv) is the share of visible light it passes. Project fabrics are as recorded in each case study; the Boca Raton and Miami Beach figures come from the Phifer and Lutron spec sheets. The finalists are judged on a physical sample in your own light: request the glare-control set, or see a fabric on your own window first.
A screen reverses at night. Here is what we put behind it.
Once the lights are on inside, the bright side of a screen is yours, and the fabric reads from the street or the balcony at any openness. Where a room sleeps or needs evening privacy we add a second layer, and on these projects it was planned from the first visit, not added later.
| Project | Day layer | Night layer |
|---|---|---|
| Turnberry Ocean Club, Sunny Isles Beach | E Screen 5% White/Linen in the living room | Sparta Twilight blackout rollers in side channels in the bedrooms, on both the ocean and the Intracoastal exposures |
| Salato, Pompano Beach (three units) | E Screen 3% and 5% White/White in the living and dining rooms | Sparta Twilight blackout in White/White in the bedrooms; the master shade 144 by 120 inches as a single shade with one seam |
| The Hemispheres, Hallandale Beach | Mermet Elba Daylight, under 1%, in the living areas | Elba Twilight, the blackout twin in the same colour, in the bedroom, with every window edge caulked |
| Landmark Ranch Estates, Southwest Ranches | Coulisse Paris 3% in Gardenia in the offices, kitchen, family room and gym | Coulisse Como blackout in Shell behind a drapery or a Roman in every bedroom and the loft, all inside ceiling pockets |
| Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sunny Isles Beach | T Screen 3% White with ripplefold sheers at the glass | Highland blackout shades in White where the residence sleeps |
| Bay Drive, Pompano Beach | SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5% across the living spaces | SheerWeave 7200R blackout in RB1 Swan in the primary suite |
Openness, color & hardware
Openness Factor, Explained
1% for maximum heat rejection, 3%-5% for the glare/view sweet spot, 10% for the lightest touch - we bring samples so you judge in your own light.
Dark vs Light Fabrics
Counterintuitive but true: darker screens give the clearest view and best glare control; lighter screens reflect more solar heat. Exposure decides.
UV & Fade Protection
Screen fabrics block the UV that fades rugs, art, and hardwood - protection your interiors feel in year five.
Cassettes & Open Rolls
Concealed cassettes, architectural fascias, or minimalist open rolls to suit the ceiling detail.
Dual Day-Night Option
Solar screen + blackout on one bracket, hidden in one 5 x 5 in Vertilux fascia - view by day, darkness by night, one window. Explore dual roller shades. For alternating sheer and solid bands, see our zebra shades.
Motorized & Automated
Lutron and Somfy motors with sun-tracking schedules - shades lower before the afternoon load arrives.
Recent installations
Estate Pool View
Canal-Front Glare Control
Solar Rollers
Frequently asked
Do solar shades give privacy at night?
No - screen fabrics reverse at night when interior lights are on. We pair them with lined or blackout drapery, or a blackout dual roller, for evening privacy. A sheer on its own will not do it: like the screen, it reads through once the lights are on.
Which openness factor should I choose?
3%-5% is the South Florida sweet spot for water views; 1% for brutal west exposures. We bring samples to judge in your own light.
How much heat do they actually cut?
Quality screen fabrics reject a large share of solar heat gain before it enters the room - the difference is felt immediately on west-facing glass, and your AC notices too.
Can they be motorized?
Almost all of ours are - battery or wired Lutron and Somfy, with schedules that track the sun. See motorized shades.
Woven in the USA. Specified by the numbers.
Solar screen is where the fabric decides everything: the view, the glare, the heat and whether the shade still hangs flat in year five. We specify Mermet, woven in South Carolina, and Phifer SheerWeave, woven in Alabama, and only their best grades, with the spec sheet in the quote.
Mermet
E Screen, M Screen, T Screen, Satiné and the GreenScreen weaves, with KOOLBLACK for dark screens that reflect heat - woven by Mermet USA in Cowpens, South Carolina and listed by the mill as Made in USA. Mermet fabrics
Phifer SheerWeave
The SheerWeave family, including PVC-free styles and Microban-protected weaves that resist mildew in Florida humidity - woven by Phifer in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the mill has made fabric since 1952. Phifer fabrics
Best grade only
A core chosen for the window - fiberglass-core screens that stay flat on 10-foot glass, polyester where its lighter weight or PVC-free construction serves the room - an openness woven to tolerance, and a published spec sheet for UV, heat and light in every colour, with GREENGUARD Gold and NFPA 701 listings behind it. Never anonymous screen.
On any system
The same fabric on a Lutron, Somfy or Crestron motor, or a manual chain. Both mills sell through distributors, and the ranges we specify are kept on the shelf by our authorized South Florida distributor, so the fabric is chosen for the window and its exposure, not for the motor brand - and it is ready to cut when the measurements are. Our shade fabrics
Discerning homeowners, designers, and developers across South Florida trust Exotic with their most important spaces.
“Thanks to David our new location is now complete. We have a huge window facing south and the sun was unbearable. We needed something that blocked the sun's heat but allowed natural light. His recommendation were spot on and the installation was remarkably fast. Thanks. He really knows his stuff.”
“Perfect length and thickness of the drapes, needed something to make sure no sunlight comes through the window and Alex did an amazing job for recommendation and installation! 100% recommend!!”
“I recently purchased a condo in west palm beach and needed a solution to protect my home office from UV rays and excessive sunlight. Exotic Shades & Draperies recommended motorized solar shades, and they were the perfect solution. They protect my furniture and computer screens while still allowing natural light into the room. The installation was flawless, and the shades are easy to operate. I'm extremely happy with the result and highly recommend their team!”
Control systems these shades answer to
Every motorized system we install runs from a remote, an app or the home's control system. Which one depends on the motor family, so we settle it before the shade is made.
Lutron
Sivoia QS, Triathlon, Serena and Palladiom shades: Pico remotes and the Lutron app, with native integration to Crestron, Control4, Savant, Apple Home, Amazon Alexa and Google Home through Caseta, RadioRA 3 or HomeWorks. Lutron motorized shades.
Somfy
Sonesse, Glydea and WireFree motors on Somfy RTS or Zigbee: Telis and Situo remotes, the TaHoma app for scenes and schedules, Amazon Alexa and Google Home through TaHoma, and Control4, Crestron and Savant through the TaHoma integration. Somfy motorization.
Crestron
Crestron shade motors and drapery tracks commissioned into the home's Crestron processor and keypads with your integrator, with the fabric, hems and hembars still made in our workroom. Crestron shades.
Solar shades in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton & Palm Beach
Solar shades in 1% to 10% openness screens that cut heat, glare and UV while keeping the water view - specified per exposure for Intracoastal, oceanfront and golf-course glass. Our workroom and showroom are at 4539 Powerline Rd in Fort Lauderdale, our second showroom is South of Fifth in Miami Beach, and the same in-house team measures and installs from Miami to Palm Beach.
The right solar shade for every exposure
One free hour with our team routinely saves owners thousands in avoidable mistakes - wrong fabrics, bad mounts, missed motorization. Book a private, complimentary consultation - we bring the fabrics, the samples, and honest answers. Start with the free guide: 10 costly window treatment mistakes.