Bay Drive, Pompano Beach
Five shades in one line down a wall of beach-facing glass - Somfy Sonesse 30 Zigbee rollers in SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5% Alabaster, and 7200R blackout for the primary suite.
The beach, on a dimmer
Fifty-four seconds through the residence: the run of five screens lowering together across the great room, the family room opening to the pool, and the blackout closing the primary suite.
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A beach house with nothing between the room and the water
A private oceanfront residence on Bay Drive in Pompano Beach - a low, wood-ceilinged beach house whose great room is one continuous wall of sliding glass, with the dune, the sea grapes and the Atlantic filling every panel. The brief: keep the view and the light, take the glare and the heat out of the afternoon, and make the primary suite fully dark at night. Motorized roller shades throughout, on Somfy Sonesse 30 Zigbee motors, hard-wired on 24V DC power - no batteries, ever.
The living spaces carry Phifer SheerWeave Style 4000 Eco, a 5% openness solar screen in U59 Eco/Alabaster - a warm off-white weave that blocks approximately 95% of UV yet leaves the horizon legible through the fabric, so the room stays bright instead of tinted. The primary suite carries SheerWeave Style 7200R blackout in RB1 Swan, an opaque, acrylic-foam-backed polyester that turns a beach-facing bedroom into a dark room on command.
The demanding part was the great room run: five shades hanging side by side on one wall of glass, set to travel as a single line. Every bracket at the same height, every hem landing level, every motor's limits matched so nothing races ahead or lags behind. The house was mid-renovation, so the install was sequenced around the other trades and the finish work - direct with the owner from the first measurement to the last programmed scene.
Project at a glance
Location
Private oceanfront residence · Bay Drive, Pompano Beach, FL.
Living spaces
Motorized roller shades · Phifer SheerWeave Style 4000 Eco · 5% openness · U59 Eco/Alabaster.
Primary suite
Motorized blackout roller shades · Phifer SheerWeave Style 7200R Blackout · RB1 Swan.
Motors
Somfy Sonesse 30 Zigbee on every shade · hard-wired 24V DC · Zigbee 3.0 · 47 dB · 2 Nm.
Control
Somfy Ysia Zigbee remotes in the rooms · Somfy TaHoma app, scenes and schedules · voice and whole-home integration available through TaHoma.
Delivery
Measured, fabricated, installed and commissioned by our own team · direct with the owner · sequenced around an active renovation.
Fabric schedule
Two Phifer fabrics: one to soften the sun, one to switch it off.
Phifer · SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5% · Eco/Alabaster - Living Spaces
Phifer · SheerWeave 7200R Blackout · Swan - Primary Suite
5% Openness at the Glass
Tap a fabric for its full specification - each links to its page in our Phifer library.
Phifer · SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5% - Living Spaces
| House | Phifer · SheerWeave Eco line, woven in Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Style · Colour | SheerWeave 4000 Eco · U59 Eco/Alabaster |
| Type | Basketweave solar screen - over half of the compound from crop-based and mineral feedstocks |
| Openness | 5% · UV blockage about 95% |
| Composition | 25% polyester, 75% vinyl on polyester |
| Width | Up to 126 in |
| Listings | NFPA 701 TM#1 and TM#2 · NFPA 101 Class A · California Title 19 · CAN/ULC-S109 · GREENGUARD Gold · RoHS · REACH · Microban antimicrobial |
| In this project | Motorized rollers across the living spaces - the five on the great-room wall |
| More | Our SheerWeave 4000 Eco page · Phifer solar screen fabrics |
Phifer · SheerWeave 7200R Swan - Primary Suite
| House | Phifer · SheerWeave 7000 series |
| Style · Colour | SheerWeave 7200R Blackout · RB1 Swan |
| Type | Blackout roller fabric, PVC-free - 100% polyester with an acrylic foamed backing |
| Opacity | Opaque · 11.06 oz per sq yd · 0.024 in |
| Width | 118 in · not railroaded |
| Listings | California Technical Bulletin 117 · NFPA 101 Class B · GREENGUARD Gold · RoHS · REACH · ANSI/WCMA A100.1 |
| In this project | Primary-suite blackout roller |
| More | Our SheerWeave 7200R page · Phifer blackout fabrics |
What these two fabrics do with the sun
Alabaster is a light weave, so on the ocean side it works by reflection: two thirds of the sun's energy bounces off the fabric and back out through the glass, and only 6% comes straight through. The 5% openness is what keeps the pool and the sea grapes in the picture; a 1% weave would have given a dimmer room for very little extra protection. In the primary suite the same idea runs to its end: SheerWeave 7200R in Swan is opaque, reflects 71% and lets nothing through.
Primary suite: SheerWeave 7200R Blackout in RB1 Swan, 0% openness, 0% visible light, 71% solar reflectance, 0% of the sun's energy through.
Figures: Phifer's published values for SheerWeave 4000 (5%) in U59 Eco/Alabaster and SheerWeave 7200R in RB1 Swan, retrieved September 2026.
Read next: Openness 1% vs 3% vs 5% vs 10% · Dark or light solar shade fabric? · SheerWeave 4000 Eco colourways
Inside the residence
Five Shades, One Line
The Ocean Wall, Screens Down
The Great Room, Open
The Family Room
Open to the Pool
Primary Suite, Blackout Down
The Primary Suite, Open
The Pool Deck
The components on this project
Somfy Sonesse 30 Zigbee
24 V DC roller shade motor
Every roller in the house runs on a Sonesse 30 Zigbee - the SheerWeave 4000 Eco solar screens in the living spaces and the 7200R blackout in the primary suite - hard-wired on 24 V DC and meshed on Zigbee 3.0 behind a Somfy TaHoma. The five shades on the main wall of glass were set to travel as a single line.
| Type | Low-voltage tubular motor for interior roller shades - the slim Sonesse 30 body |
| Power | 24 V DC, hard-wired from a 24 V power supply - no batteries |
| Protocol | Zigbee 3.0 mesh (2.4 GHz) |
| Torque | 2 Nm |
| Sound | 47 dB |
| Motion | Soft start and soft stop; intermediate positions; limits matched across the five-shade run |
| Control | Somfy Ysia Zigbee remotes in the rooms; Somfy TaHoma - app, scenes and schedules, voice assistants |
| Part | Somfy 1241970 |
| In this project | Every shade in the house |
The five-shade run
One wall of glass, one line
Five shades hanging side by side on the great room's wall of sliding glass, set to travel as a single line: every bracket at the same height, every hem landing level, every motor's limits matched so nothing races ahead or lags behind.
| Type | Five independent Sonesse 30 Zigbee rollers, grouped and synchronized through TaHoma |
| Setting | Limits matched motor by motor; hems checked level across the run |
| Fabric | SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5%, Eco/Alabaster, 126 in wide cloth - one piece per shade |
| In this project | The great room |
Somfy Ysia Zigbee remote
The remote in the rooms
The hand-held Zigbee remote that talks to the Sonesse 30 motors directly: a channel per shade or group, a my button for the favourite position, an LED that confirms each press, and a wall bracket so it lives by the door like a switch - no phone needed for the everyday.
| Type | Somfy Ysia Zigbee hand-held remote - 1 and 5 channel versions, wall bracket included |
| Radio | Zigbee 3.0, 2.4 GHz - up to 164 ft in open field |
| Power | 2 AAA batteries |
| Favourite | The my button stores a favourite position per channel |
| Works with | Somfy Zigbee motors and the TaHoma switch - the remote and the app share the same scenes |
| In this project | The rooms, alongside the TaHoma app |
Somfy TaHoma switch
The hub - the Zigbee network, the app and the scenes
The TaHoma switch is the hub the Zigbee motors mesh behind: the Somfy app, scenes and schedules, voice through Alexa, Google Home or Apple Home, and Control4, Crestron or Savant integration if a control system comes later.
| Type | Somfy TaHoma switch hub for Zigbee and RTS motors |
| Capacity | Up to 60 Zigbee products and 40 RTS channels |
| Voice | Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home available through TaHoma |
| Integration | Control4, Crestron and Savant through the Somfy Synergy API |
| In this project | Every shade in the house, in the app and in scenes |
More on the TaHoma switch · Somfy smart home and integration
Frequently asked
What was installed?
Motorized roller shades throughout on Somfy Sonesse 30 Zigbee motors - SheerWeave 4000 Eco 5% Alabaster solar screens in the living spaces, SheerWeave 7200R Swan blackout in the primary suite. Roller shades · Solar screens · Blackout shades.
Why a 5% solar screen on the ocean side?
It is the balance for a beach house: glare and roughly 95% of UV out, the horizon and the water still clear through the weave. More on choosing openness in our solar screen fabric guide · SheerWeave 4000 Eco.
How are the shades controlled?
Somfy Sonesse 30 Zigbee motors, hard-wired on 24V DC power, on a Zigbee 3.0 mesh, run from Somfy Ysia Zigbee remotes in the rooms and from the Somfy TaHoma app, scenes and schedules - with voice and Control4, Crestron or Savant integration available through TaHoma. Ysia remotes · TaHoma switch · Somfy TaHoma and smart control · Zigbee vs Lutron.
What was demanding about it?
Five shades on one wall of glass, set to travel as a single line - every bracket at the same height, every hem landing level, every motor's limits matched - and an install sequenced around a live renovation. The Sonesse 30 · How Somfy motors are programmed.
Do you take on projects like this?
Yes - for owners, designers, builders and integrators alike, and we are glad to structure a referral partnership. Talk to us.
A wall of glass facing the water and a bedroom that has to go dark?
That is the job we like. One free hour with our team routinely saves owners thousands in avoidable mistakes - the wrong openness for the view, shades that never line up, motors that never make it into the app. Book a private, complimentary consultation - we bring the fabrics, the samples, and honest answers. Start with the free guide: 10 costly window treatment mistakes.