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Vitamin D from the sun without the heat (silver-coated plexiglass)

Plexiglass -G UVT

  • will pass UVB
  • Is used in tanning beds
  • Is used as covers for some pet cages

Should be useful as a window ‘’glass’’ for you or your pet.

Image

Plexiglass -G UVT can also be used to make a "heat shield" to get vitamin D from the sun without getting too hot.

Just need to add a coating to it.
to absorb/reflect some of all of the UVA and IR portions of the spectra
so that a person could get vitamin D from the sun without getting a tan (UVA) or getting too hot (IR).

At a minimum the coating could just reduce the IR
A better costing would block all of the IR
The best coating would stop UVA and IR but pass the visible light
An acceptable coating would stop everything above UVB: UVA, visible, and IR

Spectra for mirror coatings: derived from Wikipedia

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The combination should reduce 90% of the light and virtually all of the heat
VitaminDWiki added UVB spectra
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It appears that a mirror made of Plexiglass G-UVT coated with silver (Ag) might make an acceptable coating
All of the UVA, visible, and infrared would be reflected, and only the UVB would pass thru the mirror.
Video on how to add a silver coating using chemicals by http://angelgilding.com/
Mirrors can also be made with very thin silver leaf attached to the "glass" with gelatin - see PDF attached at bottom of this page - also by http://angelgilding.com/
The gelatin might absorb the UVB - not sure need to check Google Images
Can protect the chemical or leaf silver by sandwiching it between two layers of plexiglass
5 square feet of silver leaf costs as little as $8 and shipping
Would need at least 4 packages (20 square feet) to make a silver plexiglass mirror large enough to provide just UVB to an adult.

Neat features of this heat shield

  • Get vitamin D (UVB) with minimal tanning (no UVA)
  • Possibly get 4X as much vitamin D per minute than if in the direct sun
    (UVA, which seems to cancel some vitamin D production, is blocked by the heat shield)
  • Can spend more minutes in the sun when you do not overheat (especially good for those with dark skins)


Plexiglass datasheets are attached at the bottom of this page

UV transmission by standard window glass

No UVB (Vitamin D) gets thru, but most UVA (Tan) gets thru

uv window glass.jpg

See also VitaminDWiki

See also web


Methacrylate glass also transmits in the UVB (update May 2020)

Spectral transmission of solar radiation by plastic and glass materials
Would still need to use silver to block the heat and brighness of the sun
Image
Available from Lowe's, etc.
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Title change made July 2020 caused the visitor count to reset.
There have actually been 20383 visitors to this page since it was originally made




Created by admin. Last Modification: Monday January 11, 2021 15:37:39 GMT-0000 by admin. (Version 36)

Attached files

ID Name Comment Uploaded Size Downloads
14850 Methacrylate.jpg admin 11 Jan, 2021 45.81 Kb 1161
14849 Windows spectral transmission including UF Serrano.pdf admin 11 Jan, 2021 1.61 Mb 682
14063 Image-Metal-reflectance.png admin 21 Jul, 2020 19.64 Kb 1509
6353 Silver Ag.jpg admin 19 Jan, 2016 3.74 Kb 4006
1539 Silver_Leaf_Instructions.pdf admin 12 Aug, 2012 401.09 Kb 2736
1535 Plexiglass.jpg admin 11 Aug, 2012 21.16 Kb 6778
1534 Plexiglass G-UVT datasheet.pdf admin 11 Aug, 2012 410.77 Kb 2494
1533 Plexiglass G-UVT.pdf admin 11 Aug, 2012 2.83 Mb 2374