My idea: Solar/battery powered, self-adjusting Venetian blinds
- The slats would have paper-thin, light-colored, flexible solar panels on the sides facing the outside of the house. They wouldn’t need to be efficient at converting sunlight to electricity. The sides facing the inside of the house would be white.
- The headrail would contain a tiny electric motor that could slowly open or close the blinds; a replaceable battery; a simple photosensor; a thermometer; and a small computer with WiFi.
- The solar panels on the outward-facing sides of the slats would harvest direct and ambient sunlight to recharge the battery.
- The computer would be networked with other sensors in the house, and would know 1) when humans were inside the house, 2) when the heating and cooling systems were active, and 3) what the temperature was outside the house (this could be determined by checking internet weather sites).
- Based on all of those data, the Venetian blinds would automatically open or close themselves to attenuate the amount of sunlight shining through the windows. Since sunlight heats up objects, controlling the sunlight would also control the internal house temperature.
- During hot summer days, the blinds would completely close to block sunlight from entering the house, keeping it cooler inside. During cold winter days, the blinds would open.
- If the blinds were trying to maximize the amount of sunlight entering a house, they could continuously adjust the angling of the slats over the course of a single day to match the Sun’s changing position in the sky.
- The photosensors and thermometers in each “Smart Venetian Blind” could also help identify window leaks and windows that were accidentally left open.
- The blinds could also be used for home security if programmed to completely close each night, preventing potential burglars from looking inside the house. The homeowner could use a smartphone app to control all the blinds and set this as a default preference. Sudden changes in temperature at a particular window during periods where no one was in the house could also be registered as possible break-ins.
- Humans could, at any time, manually adjust the Venetian blinds by pulling on the cord connected to the headrail. The computer would look for patterns in this behavior to determine if any user preferences existed, and if so, the blinds would try to incorporate them into the standard open/close daily routine.
- The Smart Venetian Blinds could function in a standalone manner, but ideally, they would be installed in houses that had other “Smart” features. All of the devices would share data and work together for maximum efficiency.
- Every month, the homeowner would get a short, simple email that estimated how much money the blinds had saved them in heating and cooling costs. Data on the blinds’ lifetime ROI would also be provided.
UPDATE (6/28/2018): A company called “SolarGaps” beat me to it! Looks like they’ve been in business since early 2017.
https://youtu.be/whrroUUWCYo