Our new Uni-Switch® switchable glass product is designed to help installers unlock sales potential with customers who are looking for premium window and door privacy solutions.
Switchable smart glass may be one of the latest technology-driven products for windows and doors of all types but, until now, it has been a very niche purchase. This has largely been due to the product’s often complicated supply chain and lengthy lead times, which has made sourcing it problematic for installers.
With the launch of Uni-Switch®, we believe we can change that, with a superior switchable glass product available in a lead time of just 15 working days.
There is fantastic growth potential for switchable glass at the top end of the market, chiefly because it matches the ambitions of customers who are seeking the highest quality, most technically advanced windows and doors.
And there is a growing demand in the commercial market too, given how switchable glass is ideally suited to interior glass elements like partitions and doors in offices, healthcare facilities, schools, colleges, universities, leisure facilities and hotels.
Uni-Switch® switchable glass uses an electrical current, which is passed through a thin film applied to the inner pane of laminated glass, to change its appearance from opaque when the power is off, to transparent when the electricity supply is switched on.
It is very straightforward to install, and it can be used for everything from a standard casement or French doors, to vertically sliding sashes, bi-fold doors and rooflights. The glass remains highly transparent with a light transmission level of over 78%, with the lowest angle haze, and 99.9% of harmful UV rays are blocked.
The film is highly configurable too, including being available in 12 different colours and shades. This unlocks amazing creative potential as logos can be incorporated into the film so they are visible as required, and differences in the opaqueness can be achieved – for example, the film could be applied to just one half of the glass pane or applied to reveal shapes such as stripes or circles.
Ian Short, MD of Morley Glass said: “The reaction that Uni-Switch® received when it debuted at the FIT Show in May was incredible. We’ve taken time to get the right system in place, and to set up our business in a way that makes pricing and sourcing the product very straightforward for our customers – that’s going to make it easy for installers to buy the system from us.”
Uni-Switch® also overcomes one of the main technical challenges associated with many other switchable smart glass systems – the level of electrical current. Switchable glass usually works using a 110V current, whereas our product requires only 40V. One of the main benefits that results from the ‘low voltage’ is that it allows switchable smart glass to be incorporated into bi-fold doors more easily.
Visual clarity is optimised through the use of low-iron glass and the product can be incorporated into double and triple glazed units without compromising other important performance criteria – such as the highest levels of thermal insulation and advanced solar control in sunny aspects.
Morley Glass offers full technical support and installation guidance for Uni-Switch®, in line with all its integral blind systems, along with world-class aftersales service.
