APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- Window treatments
- Passive solar architecture
- Ergonomic home and office daylighting
ADVANTAGES:
- Admits ambient daylight while shielding glare
- Retains a view
- Adjusts to diurnal course of the sun
ABSTRACT:
Berkeley Lab scientist Robert Clear has developed a system for sun-facing windows that lets in daylight but blocks the glare of direct sunlight. The invention’s selective glare screening relies on the precise coordination of surfaces that impede or admit light as the system adjusts to the position of the sun in the sky. Multiple designs employing Berkeley Lab’s novel glare blocking technology are possible, including the use of patterned films or more traditional slatted blinds.
This dynamic glare-screening technology also enhances room aesthetics. It simultaneously admits soft and pleasing daylight while providing the room with a view. Traditional window treatments that block direct sunlight not only darken a room, they obstruct what can be seen outdoors.
The need to block “discomfort glare” from direct sunlight is a fundamental problem for the design of passive solar structures that employ large glass surfaces facing the sun. In particular, green office design reliant on natural daylighting must counter the accompanying glare. This technology will screen the direct sunlight and still bathe the room in beneficial, natural illumination.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Modeled concept.
STATUS: Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.
SEE THESE OTHER BERKELEY LAB TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS FIELD:
Novel Electrochromic Device Controlled by Sunlight, IB-1235
EnergyPlus: Energy Simulation Software for Buildings, CR-2118
REFERENCE NUMBER: IB-2415
