Beadwall TM

Beadwall™ self-insulating window panels are twin glass panes with at least 2.5 inches of separation that are able to fill with 1.5 lb density expanded poly-styrene beads creating a insulating factor of R-11, comparable to a standard fiberglass insulated stud wall. Beadwall windows are a great application for greenhouses with the ability to drain and let the sun in during the day and then fill up to maintain temperature at night.
Since the beads can conform to any shape they will fill up and completely shade and insulate a curved window such as the one that is shown to the left.

The way this system works, is by placing a storage tank in any available area of your structure and piping it to the window. When it is turned on to fill, a vacuum sucks the beads from the storage tank and blows them into the window from the top. When this cycle is reversed the motor creates a suction going from the window to the storage tank, this pulls the beads out of the window from the bottom thus emptying the window.
Although Beadwall self-insulating window panels are ideal for greenhouse applications they are also great for your house. Being that they fill from the bottom up allows you to fill the window half way giving privacy but still allowing light to enter the room. Then when you fill the window all the way you can achieve room darkening privacy while stabilizing the temperature. If you stop the fill cycle before the beads get tightly packed you can achieve total privacy with medium light filtration.