Solar Control Glass for Increasing Passenger Comfort in Autos

The use of solar control glass for automobile use is examined from the viewpoint of desired optical properties and the test procedures now used to evaluate these glasses.

Comparisons are made between low solar transmitting, highly absorbing, tinted glasses to low solar transmitting, low absorbing, coated glasses. These products are compared to normally supply tinted glass and the “ideal” solar glass which has little absorption and still meets the visible requirement of 70% illuminant “A” transmission.

Testing of solar glasses is now accomplished by use of automobiles in which a standard glass is compared to the test glass during a heat soak and an active cool-down cycle. A very simplified computer program used as a screening guide for evaluating solar glasses is presented to show how the soak and cool-down portions are modeled.