Aluminum shade cloth is ordered for a whole house rather than a single bay. The foil strands in the weave bounce part of the sun straight back out, and the knit breaks up what is left, so the air under the screen stays cooler and the plants below are not working against raw midday sun. It hangs on the same steel and wire a grower already has, and covers everything from a propagation tunnel to a full production house.
An aluminum shade cloth is bought for the whole house, not a single bench. The sun that a cover sits under arrives all day at a shallow angle, and on a long span it lands hardest at the top of the canopy while the rest of the crop sits in its own shadow. The foil strands in this cloth take part of that light and send it back out of the roof.
Two things happen in the same sheet. The aluminium strands reflect a share of the incoming radiation before it reaches the crop, and the knit spreads whatever is left so no single band of light sits on the same leaves all afternoon. The result is a house that is cooler to work in and a canopy that is lit more evenly from the door to the far wall.
The cooling figure follows from that. With less direct energy reaching the plant and the floor, the load on vents, fans and wet pads goes down, which is why the cloth is usually chosen when a grower is already fighting midday heat rather than simply wanting less light.
The cloth is run on the frames a grower already has. It is pulled over steel hoops, tied on wire runs or hung on an interior rail, and the edges are finished so they can be tensioned without the weave pulling out at the corners. A screen that is set square on the frame shades the whole bay, not just the middle of it, so the fixing points matter as much as the cloth.
On an interior rail the sheet sits just above the canopy, which is where it does the most good; over the roof it works as an outer screen and takes the worst of the midday sun before it reaches the cover itself.
| Material | Aluminium foil strand woven with HDPE monofilament |
| Construction | Woven foil and film strip net |
| Shade Rate | 95%, other rates to order |
| Energy Saving | Around 30% on cooling load |
| Use | Greenhouse and outdoor shade cloth |
| Colour | Silver, other options to order |
| Model | ASN-004 |
| Packing | PE bag or woven bale, customised on request |
The cloth is ordered by growers running production houses, propagation tunnels and nursery benches where the whole span has to be covered in one go. It is used the same way over an open shade house, where there is no cover at all and the net is the only thing between the crop and the sun, and on the sides of a house where afternoon glare is the complaint rather than heat.
Growers setting out container work often order it alongside a planting bag, and the wider shade net range covers knitted, tape and thermal types for a different balance of light and air. A grow bag is bought at the same time for nursery work.
Widths, lengths, shade rate and edging are made to order, so the first question is the span of the house and the fixing points on the frame. Rolls ship in PE bags or woven bales, and trial lengths are available for a grower who wants to run one bay before covering the whole house. Growers tracking how screens perform across a season can follow trade coverage such as HortiDaily and Greenhouse Grower for what is being installed on commercial sites.
Do I need a frame to hang it on?
Yes. The cloth is tensioned on steel hoops, wire runs or an interior rail. Tell us the span and the fixing points and we will confirm the width and the edging that fit your frame.
Can it go over an open field instead of a house?
It can. Over an open shade house the net is the only cover, and the reflective face still cuts the direct sun and the heat that comes with it.
Is it available in other shade rates?
Yes. The standard is 95% and other rates are made to order, with the same foil strand and the same woven construction.
Tell us the span of the house, the crop and the shade rate you are working to, and we will confirm the width and the edging that fit your frame.
Mark Wu, Co-founder & Technical Director, Sichuan Zhifang Net Industry. 15 years manufacturing agricultural nettings for growers in 32 countries.
