Scientific breakthrough in car tinting: "smart" self-tinting glass

Car tinting is regulated by GOST 5727-88. In accordance with it, the throughput of the windshield must be at least 75%. For the side ones, a slight indulgence has been made, they can delay up to 30% of light rays. As a result, anyone can look into a parked car, which is not liked by all road users. Going to violate traffic rules is pointless, it will eventually be revealed and will bring nothing but trouble. Therefore, many motorists are looking for a legal way to get around this ban. Self-tinting glass, which has the property of changing its transparency depending on certain conditions, can help with this.

"Smart" glasses and films

The problem can be solved with the help of materials that can change their color and transparency under the influence of electrical voltage. Smart glasses and films have this property. There are two fundamentally different approaches to organizing the work of such products:

• when voltage is applied, the product becomes transparent;
• under the influence of an electric current, it darkens or changes color.

Therefore, if you put the first type in a car, then its glasses will be darkened or have a milky color in the parking lot, and when power is supplied to them, the tinting disappears. The latter require a single electrical impulse to move from one state to another.

Types of "smart" tinting

Most often, such glasses consist of two layers, between which there is a material that can change transparency. But this is optional. The effect can be obtained on plain glass by applying an appropriate coating to it. "Smart" films are made in a similar way.

There are three types of coatings, when using which car tinting has variable properties:

• liquid crystal polymers;
• layered materials with suspended particles;
• electrochromic.

Products with the first type of coating in the normal state have a milky color and are completely opaque. After applying voltage, they take the form of ordinary glass. The second in the initial position are painted in blue, black or gray. Any self-darkening design requires a constant supply of electrical current to ensure transparency. Most of them have the ability to change the level of light transmission with a change in voltage. The last type of coatings is the most interesting.

Electrochromic glasses and films are capable of changing their transparency when voltage is applied once, passing from one state to another. Car tinting, performed in this way, will be the most effective and economical. The dimming of rear-view windows works on this principle.

Cromalite glass

Cromalite glass made using SPD technology stands apart. Tinted cars, made with their help, provides quick and smooth adjustment of transparency. Their light transmission capacity varies from 10% to 75%. When fully dimmed, the tint of the car has a blue color. When voltage is applied and adjusted, the glass becomes transparent with a blackish tint.

The cost of this product is very high - a set of glasses for the front and rear doors of a car will cost about 19 thousand US dollars. Therefore, most vehicle owners who want such tinting have to wait for the technology to gain momentum and the goods to become cheaper.

Properties of smart glasses

Car tinting using smart glass has the following properties:

• protection against ultraviolet rays - 85%;
• light transmittance - 77%;
• power consumption - no more than 7 W/sq.m.

During operation, such self-tinting glass does not require additional care, it is easy to clean and wash with conventional means. You can adjust the transparency of the product using the remote control. It is very important that smart glass production technology allows you to give them any curvature. The cost of the finished product can be estimated based on the required area, since a square meter today costs from 850 to 1500 dollars.