Absorbing Solar Control. Pilkington Automotive has long been a market leader in body-tinted glass compositions. Optikool™ and EZ-KOOL® are green, optimised solar absorbing glasses, providing significant improvement to occupant comfort.

How does solar control glazing work? Glass manages solar heat radiation by three mechanisms: reflectance, transmittance and absorptance. When specifying solar control glazing, the most important parameter to consider is the total solar heat transmittance or g value.

Solar control glass is a hi-tech product developed by the glass industry to allow sunlight to pass through a window or façade while radiating and reflecting away a large degree of the sun’s heat. The indoor space stays bright and much cooler than would be the case if normal glass were used.

Tinting the glass is only one method of achieving solar control. Pilkington Optifloat™ tints tend to reduce the light transmission with the solar control. Another option is to use Pilkington Suncool™ coated products and the Pilkington Eclipse Advantage™ range.

Solar Control. Reduces solar heat gain and offers high levels of natural light to provide comfortable and pleasant environments in which to live and work. Find out more about Solar Control. Visit our dedicated section all about solar control glazing.

Cobalt and nickel, ferrous and ferric iron, cerium and titanium are all used to control transmission of infrared or ultraviolet waves to differing degrees and with differing visual effects. Coatings on the glass are another way of modifying the solar control properties.

Control of the sun's heat can be achieved in a number of ways. The most popular is by using a coloured glass such at the Pilkington Optifloat™ Tint range or Pilkington Arctic Blue™ which simply reduce incoming heat transmission. A similar effect can be achieved using a sandwich of glass with a tinted interlayer Pilkington Optilam™ I Colour.

In hot conditions or for building with high internal loads, solar control glass is used to minimise solar heat gain. It allows sunlight to pass through a window or façade while radiating and reflecting away a large degree of the sun's heat.

The range manages comfort and costs all year round, with the solar control glass minimising solar heat gain; rejecting solar radiation and controlling glare in hot conditions. Equally, in more temperate conditions, Pilkington Suncool™ works to balance solar control with high levels of natural light.

How does solar control glazing work? Glass manages solar heat radiation by three mechanisms: reflectance, transmittance and absorptance. When specifying solar control glazing, the most important parameter to consider is the total solar heat transmittance or g value.