Solar, Battery or Hardwired: Choosing a Motor for Your Blinds
Motorized blinds and curtains open and close with a remote, an app, your voice or a schedule. The real decision is how the motor gets its power.
In short
- Battery motors need no wiring and fit any window, but you recharge them every so often.
- Solar motors top up their own battery from daylight on sunny windows.
- Low-voltage hardwired motors never need charging and suit whole-home systems and new builds.
- Many homes mix all three, depending on which walls are open.
On this page
Battery (rechargeable)
A rechargeable battery motor sits inside the roller tube or headrail with its battery pack. Nothing is wired into the wall, so it installs on any window in a finished home, the same day. When the battery runs low you plug in a USB charger for a few hours. How often depends on the size of the shade and how many times a day it moves; for most shades it is months, not weeks.
Best for: a few windows, a first motorized room, rentals, and any window where running a wire isn't practical.
Solar-powered
A solar motor is a battery motor with a slim solar panel, usually tucked behind the cassette facing the glass. Daylight keeps the battery topped up, so on windows that get regular sun you rarely charge it yourself.
On north-facing windows, heavily shaded windows or during the short days of an Ontario winter, the panel collects less, and you may need an occasional USB top-up. We check orientation at the measure and only suggest solar where the window gets enough light.
Low-voltage hardwired (our specialty)
A hardwired motor runs on low-voltage power (not the 120 V in your outlets) delivered by a cable to each window from a power supply. There is nothing to charge, ever. Hardwired motors are the most reliable choice for large and heavy shades, for long runs of windows, for curtains on motorized tracks, and for homes run by a whole-home system such as Control4, Crestron or Savant.
The catch is the wiring. It is easiest while walls and ceilings are open, during a build or renovation. In finished homes we can sometimes fish wires to the windows, but not always. If you are building, read pre-wiring for motorized shades before drywall goes up.
Compared
| Battery | Solar | Hardwired | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wiring needed | No | No | Yes, low-voltage |
| Charging | USB, every few months | Rarely, on sunny windows | Never |
| Best window | Any | South, east or west, unshaded | Any, planned in advance |
| Very large or heavy shades | Limited | Limited | Yes |
| Whole-home systems | Yes, through a hub | Yes, through a hub | Yes, directly |
| Ideal for | Finished homes, a few windows | Sunny windows in finished homes | New builds, renovations, big glass |
Mixing motor types
Most motor families come in battery and hardwired versions that work with the same remotes, hubs and apps. That means you can hardwire the great room during a renovation, put solar motors on the sunny bedrooms and battery motors on the rest, and still control the whole house from one app.
Noise and manual control
Today's motors are quiet: a soft hum for a few seconds. Every motorized shade we install still has a manual way to operate it, by remote or wall switch, and battery and solar shades keep working when the power or internet is out.
The motors we install
Our smart motors deliver 2 Nm of torque, which comfortably lifts the blinds and shades in most homes, and they work with all the major smart home systems, including Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa and SmartThings. For homes with whole-home systems such as Control4, we install low-voltage hardwired motors. We check the size and weight of every shade at the measure so each one gets the right motor.
3-year in-house warranty
Whichever way your shades are powered, every motor and its programming is fully covered for three years by our own team.
Common questions
How long does a battery motor last between charges?
It depends on the size and weight of the shade and how often it moves. For a typical shade moving a few times a day, expect months between charges. A low-battery warning or slower movement tells you it is time.
Do solar blinds work in winter?
Yes, but they collect less on short, grey days. Panels on bright windows usually keep up; on darker windows you may need an occasional USB top-up.
Can I switch from battery to hardwired later?
Often, yes. Many motors come in both versions on the same system. The work is in running the low-voltage cable to the window, which is easiest during a renovation.
What does 2 Nm of torque mean?
Torque is the turning force the motor applies to the roller. Two newton-metres is enough to lift the blinds and shades in most homes smoothly, without straining the motor.
