The solar control window film market will nearly double in size in the next four years, according to areport by Lux Research Inc. The market will jump from its current value of $479 million to $863 million by 2018, experiencing a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent.
Managing solar heat gain, light transmission, and glare has become a primary concern of manufacturers, as the use of architectural glass has grown globally regulations have become stricter.
The report says, “compared to competing technologies like switchable glazings, aerogel glazings, and daylighting skylights, after-market solar control films offer a low-cost, short-payback-period technology that can address the much larger retrofit market,” which is why the market is expected to grow.
Aditya Ranade, senior analyst at Lux, says that while switchable and aerogel glazings have a payback period of more than 10 years, window films tend to have a 2-5 year payback period.