Europeans get roll down shutters on the outside of their windows for security and to blot out the sun. It's clear they'll never allow us to posses this technology.

Why can't Americans leapfrog them by bringing back shutters but using solar panels instead? Maybe on some kind of linear rail, though it would better if the mechanism aided in locking them together when in the closed position.

It would be neat if the 200-400 watts of power could be harnessed by the room for heating or cooling as well instead of tying into some inverter in the power room trying to tie together 4+ of these as one "string". Anyone watched watched any of the youtuber Solar Power Edge's videos on direct PV? He's done a bunch with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK3_lRSntRc

>>2929085 (OP)
Roll up and accordion hurricane shutters are a thing in the US

>>2929085 (OP)
sun is up in the sky dude not in front of the house
solar panels on the roof is much better and people do that

>>2929085 (OP)
>It would be neat if the 200-400 watts of power could be harnessed by the room for heating or cooling as well instead of tying into some inverter in the power room trying to tie together 4+ of these as one "string".
This is not a good thing at all. With a setup like this, you will be getting inconsistent power, and direct electric heating saves you fuck-all money (you will not run any real cooling device on direct solar, especially not such small panels). There are grid-tie microinverters that allow you to basically "plug the panels in" to AC lines, but even this is not a very good design choice because they are a hassle and an extra failure point. Generally it's best to have a central battery that buffers multiple strings (if you have many) with separate charge controllers, or if you don't have many strings, then just the central inverter.
Also you can only use solar panels on south-facing windows, nothing else will get anywhere near the rated output. If you put a 200W panel north-facing in 90deg position, it will produce maybe 10W on average.

solar panels that don't face the sun are dramatically less efficient. you want slats or an awning.

>>2929110
>>2929185
Maybe I could use this bar type linear guide for the top to allow for pivoting.

I have shutters because they're aesthetic. Why would I install ugly ones that also cost more?

>>2929214
You're overthinking and overcomplicating it, just put the panels on their own dedicated space or the roof, and get normal shutters.

>>2929217
I'm buying 100 watt panels for like $17-25 each shipped to my door using promos. If I don't use coupons they're still only like $4x~ each. You can't buy a shutter for much cheaper than that.

>>2929218
Shutters haven't been needed for a very long time. Obviously homes can and do get by fine without them. I'm just thinking of trying to add *some* utility to the space they once occupied.

PV panels tend to overheat so you would block sun but creating a radiant surface heating up the room.
Also, shutters can block sun while allow for some air to circulate; PV shutters would not easily allow for that.

Learn to walk before leapfrogging, my friend.

>>2929232
Somehow they survive on rooftops. I think being at 90 degrees on a building - with spacing from the building - they would survive just fine. If used in a fashion like >>2929214 they'd have even more cooling.

I don't think a solar panel shutter, spaced more than an inch and a half from the window would contribute to room heating overly much.

That does give me an idea though it would require solar panel companies to manufacture. Instead of one monolithic panel you could create a series of slats made of solar cells angled up to catch the sun. It would require more individual assemblies but could allow for louvering them at different times of year.

>>2929221
The problem is that these panels will produce so little electricity that they don't offset the purchase cost and wiring cost (and especially not the cost of the linear slides), plus they will look stupid. If you do the simplest possible thing and connect 4x100W panels to a resistive heater that you only run in colder months, you're looking at maybe 150kWh saved in heating, if you heat with gas at say, $0.1/kWh, that's $15 a year. This is in ideal conditions with the panels not being shaded at all, if you panels are getting any shade or have any offset from south, it will be much less than that. On a north-facing window you're looking at maybe 30-40kWh.
>>2929255
These are all awful ideas because again, you're producing absolute fuck-all power. You can buy individual solar cells and build a device like that, but it will shade itself, you have to bypass diode and segment the fucking thing, and then in full sun you produce maybe 100W per window, it's pathetic. You can do it for fun, but the functionality is horrible.
There is a use case for vertically placed panels, snowy regions with a high latitude where the sun's angle is already lower, and you'd use free standing bifacial panels for this. And you'd install at least a dozen of 500W 2.5sqm panels to get worthwhile output, not 2-4 100W panels.

>>2929301
The problem is that these panels will produce so little electricity that they don't offset the purchase cost and wiring cost (and especially not the cost of the linear slides)
Maybe. See above how I've been buying the panels for $17-25 each. Higher gauge PV wire isnt expensive either. The linear slides I could probably get for about $30~ with coupons.

I'm not arguing its the most cost effective thing ever, just brainstorming the concept. $150~200 isnt the end of the world for being able to prevent the summer sun from cooking your room and maybe providing *some* energy in the process. You should check out the channel I linked's videos on direct solar PV heating. Not that I need it my PC keeps my room pretty toasty.

>>2929301
>>The problem is that these panels will produce so little electricity that they don't offset the purchase cost and wiring cost (and especially not the cost of the linear slides)

Maybe. See above how I've been buying the panels for $17-25 each. Higher gauge PV wire isnt expensive either. The linear slides I could probably get for about $30~ with coupons.

I'm not arguing its the most cost effective thing ever, just brainstorming the concept. $150~200 isnt the end of the world for being able to prevent the summer sun from cooking your room and maybe providing *some* energy in the process. You should check out the channel I linked's videos on direct solar PV heating. Not that I need it my PC keeps my room pretty toasty.

>>2929185
SUNSETTER RETRACTABLE AWNING

>>2929085 (OP)
Negroes will tear them off (breaking them in process, then dump on sidewalk right in front of their own slums).

Mexicans might steal them in working condition.

But I agree it should be Code that all windows must come with working anti-Zombie armor.

New tract homes now have no windows at ground level facing street. You have to at least get into pitbull infested fenced back yard to access window.

Pre-1990 "nice homes" are built around a big window facing street from dining room, so Ward Clever can see people coming to visit at dinner time and everyone can see him having family dinner.

>>2929085 (OP)
Or you could put bricks over your windows and solar powered steam generators on your roof like a normal person, hell why even use solar energy when you can use permanent magnets and copper coils to build an (almost) perpetual motion (I hate friction and gravity) generator yourself at home?
I support your idea of boarding up your windows and having solar panels without the HOA having a shit fit about it, but you can actually just brick up your real windows (as long as codes permit this) and then put decoy windows up over them. As per the solar panels, keep them inside your garage, and then use an LED lightbulb to power it. Wrap the device in tin foil and apply a light spray coating of glow in the dark paint to the inside (should glow and reflect at the same time) to increase the panel's light absorption and the device should output a lot more energy than you put in if you did it right.