I’ve got an extra tall living room, and without a 15’ ladder there’s no way I can actuate the pull down shades. I would be annoyed to have to climb up to change batteries a few times a year. What I would ideally want are some kind of window shade or blinds with a remote or HA controllable, and a little solar panel to collect the juicy rays of the sun.
I have found hard wired shades, battery powered shades with remotes, and zigbee etc shades, but not exactly what I’m looking for.
Any suggestions?
I don’t actually HAVE any automation at home beyond some hated Alexas, but these shades would be a great place to start.
Thanks in advance.
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Oh, damn. I misunderstood the question. I thought you meant stationary window blinds that acted as solar panels.
Which, come on. How is that NOT a thing yet???
Actually that’s a great idea too. Not what I’m looking for but it’s clever.
I thought it was a clever idea too so I looked it up and alas
Those are badass!
Alas? You found it
as in alas it already existed.
I’m on a shitty phrasing roll tonight WOOO
Not used them myself, but I’d bookmarked these for my next home… maybe what you’re looking for? Somfy Sunea
And there’s an integration in home assistant Overkiz
But whether that integration works with that solar motor is unclear.
In Germany, yes. I think they are selling them worldwide.
https://www.velux.de/produkte/sonnenschutz-und-rolllaeden
They are pretty reliable, with a builtin oversized battery and small solar panel, remote control, and 5 years warranty iirc.
They offer an integration into smartness - I can look up for you later which one.
I am planning currently to get some, but without their solar, just normal power and my own smart relays to control them.
I use their blinds and windows with a Velux KLF 200 gateway. They work fully localy with homeassistant. Can reccommend.
https://us.switch-bot.com/products/switchbot-blind-tilt
Maybe this depending on the type of blind you have
As someone who owns these, I still have to charge them from time to time. My windows have some built in UV blocking and my home has an overhang. This won’t matter for OP but the cords are short enough you have to put the solar panel at the top of the window if you plan to open it at all so part of the day the overhang blocks the sun. Then it also matters where the window itself is positioned to get sun. I use a backup battery you would use to charge a cell phone and just set it on the trim over the window and then come back for it in a few days when I finally remember. But my windows aren’t 20ft in the air. It varies from window to window but it’s usually several months between charges as the solar panels do charge enough during parts of the year.
Above is a year of battery data from my worst window and one of my better ones. It’s heavily dependent on how close to a south facing wall the windows are. And of course, how your open close routines are setup.
Edit: These windows are in the same room on the same wall. The bad one is close to the northern corner of the house and the good one is close to the southern corner of the house.
Smartwings sells an optional solar panel to charge their motorized smart blinds:
https://www.smartwingshome.com/products/solar-panel
I recently purchased their Z-Wave roller blinds and I’m quite pleased with them, though I didn’t get the solar charger so I can’t comment on how well that works.
You could do regular manual blinds with solar powered Sunsa motorized wands.
I’ve had mine for 5 years now they work great with HA (once you get past the setup)
Switchbot has something to open and close blinds that runs on solar.
Cool, checking that out. Thank you!
I’m not up to date on the current market, but I have Ikea blinds that are battery operated which I control from HA. The batteries are rechargeable, and the batteries themselves have micro-USB ports for charging.
One option would be to buy these, see what kind of charging port they come with these days, and try to make some physical modifications to jam a USB connector in there. From there, you just have to figure out the solar part. A lot of solar charge controllers have USB ports which should work to charge the battery, but they are clunky and you’d have to mount it on the wall probably.
For what it’s worth, the batteries in these shades last quite a long time… Looking at one of them, I last charged it in September 2024, and it’s still at 72%. It goes up/down at least once a day I’d say.
“It goes up/down at least once a day.”
That’s what she said!
Good tips, thank you.
Fund it man. Seems like you got a product in your hands.
Battery powered is the way to go, then add in your solar option.
If its a rechargeable, use the charging port as a means to feed it.
If it isn’t, solder direct and add your own battery - you dont want them to only work when the sun is out!
Both are hacks and not premade, but would do the job.
Could be a fun excuse to learn to solder.
No need to solder.
Someone mentioned battery blinds that charges by USB, lots of small panels provide charge by USB.
I’d say it’s worth spending extra on a panel that won’t try to charge a full battery just to be safe, but other than that with as little juice as it uses you can buy a very cheap, very small panel and just stick it in an upper corner.
Batteries are not something you should mess around with without experience. There is a very real chance of a fire and your insurance might not pay out if its caused by you.
It’s doable but I would be very careful and triple check everything. The better solution is probably to plug it into an outlet or directly wired into the house, with the solar panels on the roof instead serving the entirety of your home.
That’s definitely a concern! Even worse than insurance would be the entire recriminations from my wife.
Good point, it didnt sound like there was any accessible power source, but definitely an assumption on my part.
Why not expand the battery leads down the wall so you don’t have to climb?
15 foot long cables dangling all over would not be ideal.
Solar glass yes. Solar blinds I don’t know of anything that would be thin and flexible enough to roll and unroll everyday.
There are some think flexable solar panels, but nothing that I seen that you could use as a replacement blind in a roller blind.
Take a look into solar glass, you can retrofit some of these products right onto existing windows on the inside.
The one advantage to sollar glass is you don’t have to keep your blinds down all the time especially if you want to enjoy a sunny day.
- https://www.solarwindow.com/
- https://onyxsolar.com/
- https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/09/transparent-solar-panel-windows/
Edit: Seems I misunderstood the assignment.
Motorized Solar powered blinds where you don’t have access to power.
