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Understanding Solar Energy
Solar energy is a form of electromagnetic
radiation. All forms of solar energy can be
expressed as a wavelength, which is the
measure of the length of a full cycle in a
repeating electromagnetic curve. The
solar energy that enters into the earth’s
atmosphere is split into three bands by
wavelengths; the ultraviolet (UV), visible
(VIS) and infrared (IR) bands.
Their intensities vary depending on their
wavelength size and each one accounts for
varying percentages of heat as indicated in
the following diagram.
High Tech Solar Films act as a filter
reducing varying percentages of each part of
the Solar Spectrum. Darker films will filter
out more visible light resulting in energy
reduction whereas lighter films have to
filter out more infrared in order to reject
large amounts of energy.
Total Solar Energy Rejection
Films can be designed to work on either one
part of the Solar Spectrum or all three.
Clearly then when we read the specification
called “Total Solar Energy Rejection”, we
can now see that it is not referring to
temperature reduction percentage, but
rather, it is the percentage of incident
solar energy rejected.
The Total Solar Energy (TSER) specification
along with another specification that is
commonly used in the glass industry called
the “Solar Heat Gain Coefficient” (SHGC) are
two excellent ways for consumers to compare
the performance of one window film to
another.
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