PLEXIGLAS® light transmission:
More transparent than glass
The light transmission of a material indicates how well it transmits incident light. Light transmission is, therefore, the technical term for transparency to light. Light-transmitting materials may be transparent or translucent: When viewed through transparent materials, contours are sharply defined; in translucent materials they are indistinct.
PLEXIGLAS® is available in both transparent and translucent variants, each of which allows a different degree of light transmission, or transmittance. This depends on the material type and the thickness of the sheet. Detailed information on the transmittance of individual PLEXIGLAS® variants is available in the corresponding Technical Information brochures.
Guaranteed light transmission
Clear-transparent PLEXIGLAS® sheets are guaranteed to retain light transmission of up to 90 percent, depending on material type and region, even after 30 years of use. This is because, thanks to NATURALLY UV-STABLE technology, PLEXIGLAS® has intrinsic UV protection so that it does not yellow and retains its high light transmission.
Clear-transparent PLEXIGLAS® products show the highest transmittance, of up to 92 percent, in the visible range. The reduction is due only to a physical reflection loss of 4 percent at each of the light entry and exit surfaces; the material itself allows light to pass through unhindered. PLEXIGLAS® is thus one of the most transparent materials known, with almost no absorption of visible light in the material.
The best view
The thicker the sheet the more important the light transmission of a material. Large aquariums, for example, are constructed using transparent PLEXIGLAS® blocks with a thickness of several centimeters. Due to the unusually high light transmission of the branded acrylic, the fish can nonetheless be observed without a green cast or opacity and as they really are: in the right colors and proportions.
In greenhouses as well, plants and their gardeners benefit from the high light transmission of PLEXIGLAS®.
