Why Solar Film is a SHAM

This is an excerpt from our upcoming Armor Glass book...

Chapter 3:

Why Solar Film is a SHAM

Solar Film versus Security Film, Plywood and Shutters

The DIFFERENCE can save Your Life

Let’s face it – solar film is a sham! It’s thin and “cheap” but it only blocks the sun. It has no strength to provide breach protection of the glass from the common threats we face every day. It won’t stop a burglar. It will fail the Large Missile Impact test that Armor Glass security film has passed (for large objects hitting the glass such as bricks wielded by burglars or a tree limb during a hurricane).

Solar film has not passed any hurricane test or explosion test. Yet every day homeowners need this protection.  All solar film is doing is providing some sun protection from solar heat – but it won’t keep the roof from flying off when the window is breached by a major debris strike. Security film, on the other hand, can block and sun AND provide that critical window breach protection we all need.

For less than twice the cost of solar film a homeowner can buy Security Film that has solar properties and is certified as having passed the Large Missile Impact test (4.5 lb Level C), as well as the Miami Dade PA 201 and 203 protocols – even the Level 2 explosion test you can see on the website at www.ArmorGlass.com.  The same film will also cut solar heat up to 79% so it will pay for itself over time, while protecting the building occupants and owner. It will cut 99% of harmful UV rays that fade your furnishings and cause skin cancer, our No. 1 cancer.

So why buy solar film?  It’s like buying a 2-ply tire instead of the 4-ply tire. It may look the same but do you want to chance your family’s life on a cheap 2-ply tire at 70 miles per hour? When a tire blows out, lives can be lost. Your windows are like 2-ply tires: Once they blow out your risk losing the entire investment, whether its $100,000 or $1 million home. Why risk it? Window blow-outs during Hurricane IKE cost over $5 million in damages to the Chase tower in Houston – and that is only one example. Buildings lost windows all over town, resulting in rain and mold damage that would not have happened had Security film been installed.

After all, 40% of Americans live near a coast. The rest live in a tornado zone. Every year we have a hurricane season for six months. It won’t be called off for lack of interest next year. In fact, as the planet gets hotter the storms get stronger. Hotter air hold more water, so the storms create more energy, both in wind force and rain. Tornadoes have been spotted in unlikely places like Maine!  Hurricanes also spew tornadoes.  Hail storms knock out windows. The West, Texas fertilizer plant blew out windows of buildings blocks away – leading to a lot of the damage as the internal pressure blew apart the buildings, causing injuries and deaths. Burglars operate 24/7, 365 days a year. Cheap solar film protects against NONE of these threats. So why use it?

Safety and security and solar control window films are applied to the inside surface of a glass pane to absorb heat, reflect sunlight, or to contain fallout after breakage.  When it comes to protection afforded against wind-borne debris, there is a clear difference between solar control window film, which is generally 1.5 - 2 mil (.0015-002 in.) thick, and security window film, which is 8 – 14 mil (.008 - .014) thick.

SOLAR FILM IS NOT SECURITY FILM! Solar film (pictured above) is tissue paper thin. It blocks only the sun but is not strong enough to stop wind-borne debris that breaks a window, allowing internal wind pressure that exerts uplift on the roof, leading to structural collapse in a storm. 

Project Safe windows said this:  “Solar control window film should never be considered acceptable protection against hurricane force winds. It is designed for solar control purposes and any safety benefit is incidental. Safety and security films are designed specifically to hold glass fragments together when glass breaks.”