Motorized Skylight Shades
Motorized skylight shades from Exotic Shades & Draperies ride in side tracks that hold the fabric flat against gravity, on Lutron or Somfy motors with app schedules that close them over the hottest hours. We measure, fabricate and install them across Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach and Boca Raton.
Overhead glass, finally under control
Skylights flood Florida rooms with the harshest light in the house - from directly above, all day. Tensioned skylight shades ride in side tracks that hold the fabric flat against gravity, taming heat and glare without touching the architecture.
Because skylights are out of reach, motorization is not a luxury here - it is the operating system. Automatic skylight shades run on battery or wired power motors, app schedules close them over the hottest hours, and honeycomb fabrics insulate the hottest glass in the home. From a single bedroom skylight to motorized window shades for skylights across a whole atrium, we design, build and install every system in-house - Miami, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and up to Palm Beach.
Skylight shades by the numbers
Insulation overhead
Honeycomb fabrics are the usual skylight choice because they carry an insulation value: R 3.5 to R 4.4 in the Lutron library depending on cell and opacity.
Tensioned tracks
Skylight shades ride in side tracks that hold the fabric flat against gravity; Lutron lists its Sivoia line as suited to bottom-up and angled windows such as skylights.
Power
Battery motors avoid wiring in a ceiling: Lutron Triathlon on replaceable D cells rated at three to five years, or wired low-voltage power on new construction.
Control
App schedules close the shade over the hottest hours and open it for the evening; the same scenes run the room's roller shades and lights.
Systems & options
Tensioned Track Systems
Side tracks keep fabric taut on any slope - horizontal to steep pitch.
Honeycomb Fabrics
Insulating cells where insulation matters most - overhead.
Solar & Blackout
Cut heat while keeping glow, or black out a bedroom skylight completely.
Battery Motors
Years of use per charge, no wiring through the roofline.
Skylight Power Shades
Hardwired & low-voltage power - maintenance-free for new construction and renovations. On new builds the whole system can be hidden in a recessed skylight pocket.
Automated Schedules
Shades close over peak sun automatically - every day, without you.
Recent installations
Translucent Overhead
Blackout Overhead
Light Management
How a motorized skylight shade works
Gravity is the enemy of overhead glass, so a skylight shade rides in side tracks under tension: the fabric stays flat against the ceiling or the slope at any pitch, and the motor - battery or hardwired low-voltage - moves it without a pole or a ladder. Honeycomb fabrics insulate the hottest glass in the house, solar screens cut heat while keeping the glow, blackout fabrics darken a bedroom skylight completely. On new builds the whole system can hide in a recessed pocket; on renovations the tracks mount to the existing well.
Skylight shades in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach
Skylight shades in Miami and Miami Beach usually mean a stairwell, a kitchen or a bath under a flat roof taking full sun from directly above; in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, vaulted living rooms and atriums with sloped glass. Either way the schedule does the work - shades close over the peak hours automatically and open again for the evening. Every system is designed, fabricated and installed in-house, from a single bedroom skylight to a whole atrium.
Frequently asked
How do shades stay flat on a sloped skylight?
Tensioned side tracks hold the fabric at any angle.
Battery or wired for skylights?
Battery avoids wiring the roofline; wired suits new construction.
Can skylight shades be automated?
Fully - schedules close them over peak sun automatically.
Do they reduce heat?
Dramatically - overhead glass is the hottest in the house.
Automatic vs. manual skylight shades?
Manual means a pole or a ladder; automatic skylight shades move by remote, app or schedule.
Do you install skylight shades in Miami?
Yes - Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, up through Palm Beach, all installed in-house.
Do skylight shades work on a flat roof skylight?
Yes - tensioned side tracks hold the fabric flat whether the glass is horizontal or steeply pitched.
How much heat does a skylight shade block?
Honeycomb and solar fabrics cut a large share of the solar gain from the hottest glass in the house; the exact figure depends on fabric and exposure, and we advise per skylight.
Control systems these shades answer to
Every motorized system we install runs from a remote, an app or the home's control system. Which one depends on the motor family, so we settle it before the shade is made.
Lutron
Sivoia QS, Triathlon, Serena and Palladiom shades: Pico remotes and the Lutron app, with native integration to Crestron, Control4, Savant, Apple Home, Amazon Alexa and Google Home through Caseta, RadioRA 3 or HomeWorks. Lutron motorized shades.
Somfy
Sonesse, Glydea and WireFree motors on Somfy RTS or Zigbee: Telis and Situo remotes, the TaHoma app for scenes and schedules, Amazon Alexa and Google Home through TaHoma, and Control4, Crestron and Savant through the TaHoma integration. Somfy motorization.
Crestron
Crestron shade motors and drapery tracks commissioned into the home's Crestron processor and keypads with your integrator, with the fabric, hems and hembars still made in our workroom. Crestron shades.
Skylight shades in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton & Palm Beach
Tensioned skylight shades that ride in side tracks - honeycomb, solar or blackout, motorized for glass nobody should climb a ladder to reach. Our workroom and showroom are at 4539 Powerline Rd in Fort Lauderdale, our second showroom is South of Fifth in Miami Beach, and the same in-house team measures and installs from Miami to Palm Beach.
Tame the brightest glass in the house
One free hour with our team routinely saves owners thousands in avoidable mistakes - wrong fabrics, bad mounts, missed motorization. Book a private, complimentary consultation - we bring the fabrics, the samples, and honest answers. Start with the free guide: the 5 costly mistakes.