Blocking the sun in sunroof

[Piwoslaw]

Our car has a so-called Solar Roof, a tinted glass that replces 2/3 of the roof:



Inside there are 3 panels that slide in the ceiling to block off the light.



This helps while driving, and makes it warmer in the winter. But on the top side those panels are black, so they get pretty hot in the summer. So in the spirit of Aerohead's Solar Sombrero, I glued aluminum foil to a piece of cardboard



and put it put under the solar roof.



This should reflect more heat and make it cooler inside. The panels can still slide closed. I'd like to glue alu foil directly to the panels, but getting to them isn't easy, plus I read that they are very fragile and outrageously expensive (US$400 per panel ), so I'm having second thoughts. The foil-on-cardboard is a cheap short-term solution until I get the courage to carefully fiddle with them.

[Laurentiu]

Does it make a big difference inside when the car is parked in the sun ? Being a sunroof, I would think it probably already has some UV protection in them, I know some Webasto sunroofs claim 99% UV protection / 95% heat reflection, but that's Webasto, I don't know what Peugeot is using..
Webasto AUS info page

More info

[euromodder]

In winter you can use whatever sunlight is available to help warming up the car's interior.
Or you could block the sunroof from the inside to minimise heat-loss from your warmed-up interior to the outside world.

In summer:
It'll help a bit to block the sun from the inside.
It'll help a lot more if you block the sun from entering your car through the glass : put the sunblock on the outside of the car.
(Maybe using the roofrails ? If you don't plan on deleting them, that is.)

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I'd like to glue alu foil directly to the panels, but getting to them isn't easy, plus I read that they are very fragile and outrageously expensive (US$400 per panel ), so I'm having second thoughts.

Put another layer between the sunroof and the alu foil.
A self-adhesive foil that's made to be removable, like the ones used to tint side-windows maybe ?

[doviatt]

One of those accordion fold sun shades would work well. They come in different sizes, even extra large ones for RV's. Although, I personally like your cardboard and foil solution the best.
The earlier point about doing the reflecting on the outside will keep the actual glass from heating up and then radiating on the inside.

[johnlvs2run]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I glued aluminum foil to a piece of cardboard and put it put under the solar roof.

Great idea.

I'd use radiant barrier, as the composition has a much higher reflectivity and lower emmissivity than aluminum foil. Plus I'd put the foil on the bottom of the cardboard, as well as the top. Radiant barrier double bubble foil, or foil tape might work with it too.

I wonder if the glass can be replaced with something opaque?

[fjasper]

Safari Roof!

From The Ho Residence

"With such a wide area being exposed to the sun and heat throughout the day, it was critical that the roof design effectively overcome the issue of solar gain. Interestingly, the design drew its inspiration from Land Rover with its safari roof.





"The safari roof was a device designed for the Series Type Land Rovers operating in the hot tropics. A simple sheet of aluminium mounted on top of the vehicle with metal feet, sandwiched a layer of air for insulation, which, when heated sufficiently, dissipated the air along with the heat while drawing in cool air through a repetitive cycle. More about this later."

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

I wonder if the glass can be replaced with something opaque?

The normal 'station wagon' version of P307 (mine is a 'sports wagon') doesn't have a solar roof, just a normal metal roof which is part of the chassis and can't be replaced.

That solar block spent the winter as my engine's insulation.

A perfect fit