Comparson Considerations

• The comparison of solar blinds requires that you evaluate price, energy savings, aesthetics, and a number of less than obvious features. These include control features such as motorization, how easy the blinds are to clean, the amount of privacy they offer, the environmental nature of the materials they are made from and their relative safety.
  
  

Aesthetics

• Aesthetics, that is the natural beauty of the blinds, is a major concern for the comparison of solar blinds. Considerations here include the solar blind's color and how well the color matches the room. Because blinds often have vertical or horizontal slates, they will direct the eye to the left and right. or up and down. If you want to add the illusion of height to a room, consider vertical blinds. If you want to add the illusion of width to a room, select horizontal blinds.
  
  

See Through

• If you have a view from your window that you like and want to show off, consider see-through solar blinds. When comparing see-through solar blinds, look at specifications regarding glare elimination, the reduction of ultraviolet light and the cost. See-through blinds often require advanced material technology, so also find out about the environmentally safety of the materials used.
  
  

Solar Cell

• Blinds with embedded solar cells can also be found. Some are even motorized and will shut automatically when the sun begins to shine on the window. Others are covered with electroluminescent foil material. During the night, these solar blinds will use the energy they stored to illuminate a room. Although solar-cell based blinds offer free energy, compare their energy savings with the energy savings you could obtain with traditional solar blinds. Also consider how easy it will be to clean solar cell blinds.
  
  

Computerized Selection

• Finding out the right solar blind for your home can be complicated. And that's because there are hundreds of different types and thousands of different styles, all with different prices and different features. The selection process is so complicated that solar blind companies provide blind selection comparison programs on their web sites to help you decide. These comparison calculators will give you a good idea as to which types of blinds are more energy-efficient then others, the relative price of different types of blinds, the different features that are specific to each shade type and the colors and styles that the blind comes in. The best comparison calculators let you select several generic types and then list in tabular form the different blinds alongside their specifications and features.