Laminated Smart Glass Panels
The switchable PDLC layer laminated permanently inside the glass, cut to your dimensions and switch-tested before it leaves the shop — a finished panel any glazier sets like a standard laminated unit.
Most places selling switchable panels are one of two things: an overseas mill with a fifty-panel minimum and a long silence after you send drawings, or a reseller shipping a generic pre-cut roll that was never measured against your opening. Laminated smart glass panels from Smart View are neither. We laminate the PDLC layer inside the glass at our Canoga Park shop, cut every panel to your dimensions, apply and solder the busbars, and switch-test it before it's crated — then our own crew installs it across Los Angeles, or it goes out as a material-only order for your glazier. Here's what's inside the panel, what builds you can specify, what it costs, and what we need to quote yours.
What a laminated panel is — and when it beats film
A panel is glass first. The switchable PDLC layer is sealed between two sheets of architectural glass with PVB/EVA interlayers under heat and pressure, so the finished unit is a single structural piece that behaves like standard laminated safety glass — it just happens to turn frosted the moment the power is cut. Nothing is applied to the surface, so there is nothing to lift, peel, or scratch.
The same technology comes the other way too. Smart film is the PDLC layer applied to the face of glass that's already installed; smart glass is the panel with it built in. One question decides it: is the glass already in the wall? If it is, film is almost always the faster and cheaper answer. If the glass is still being ordered, the panel is the better unit. The full side-by-side — durability, moisture, install scope — belongs to smart film vs smart glass, which is where that comparison lives.
An honest note, because it shapes most of our work: the majority of our Los Angeles installs are film retrofits, for exactly that reason. Replacing installed glazing is usually the expensive answer. Panels earn their price when the glass is being made anyway — new construction, a remodel that's already reglazing, a shower enclosure, an exterior insulated unit, or a facade package going out to bid.
Inside the panel: the interlayer stack
Five layers, bonded into one
From the outside in: architectural glass, a PVB or EVA interlayer, the PDLC smart-film core, a second interlayer, and the inner sheet of glass. The stack goes into the laminator under heat and pressure and comes out as one unit — the interlayer is what bonds glass to core, and it's also what makes the panel hold together instead of shattering if it's ever broken.
Along one edge, two copper busbars are applied and soldered to the conductive faces of the core before lamination, with two low-voltage leads exiting at the panel edge. Those leads are the only thing your electrician connects: 48–65V AC from a transformer, drawing under 5 W/m². Power on, the crystals align and the panel is clear; power off, they scatter and it's an even milky frost. Privacy is the fail-safe state. The mechanism in full is on how smart glass works.
Because the smart layer is interior to the laminate, the panel is sealed against moisture by construction rather than by a sealant bead at the edge. That's why the same build is what we specify for shower enclosures and for exterior glazing.
Panel sizes, glass builds, and double-glazed (IGU) units
The switchable laminate is a component, not a finished catalogue item — it gets built into whatever glass makeup your project calls for.
| Build | What it is | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Laminated (standard) | Two sheets of annealed or tempered glass around the PDLC core | Interior partitions, doors, borrowed-light windows |
| Tempered laminate | Both sheets tempered before lamination | Safety-glazing locations, doors, low-level glazing |
| Low-E laminate | A low-emissivity coating on the outboard sheet | Sun-facing openings, solar and heat control |
| Insulated unit (IGU) | The switchable laminate as the inner pane, a warm-edge spacer, and an outer sheet, sealed at the perimeter | Storefronts, skylights, curtain walls, exterior windows |
| Shaped & hot-bent | Curved or non-rectangular panels laminated to a template | Arched openings, curved partitions, feature glazing |
| Fireproof laminate | Fire-rated glass in the makeup | Rated assemblies where a switchable pane is specified |
The exterior build, in short
For anything facing the weather, the switchable laminate becomes the inner pane of an insulated glass unit: a spacer holds it off a second sheet, the perimeter is sealed, and the dry air gap between them adds thermal and acoustic performance on top of the privacy layer. The smart layer never sees the outside air.
If your submittal needs published, certified thermal numbers rather than a switchable pane you glaze into someone else's frame, that's our smart glass picture windows — a complete factory-built unit with its ratings published. For bare panels we supply manufacturer spec sheets instead.
The numbers a specifier needs
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Construction | PDLC layer laminated between two glass sheets (PVB/EVA interlayers) |
| Visible light transmittance | 94% clear |
| Haze | 2.2% clear |
| Viewing angle | > 140° |
| Switching time | clear → frosted ≤ 200 ms · frosted → clear ≤ 10 ms |
| Working voltage | 48–65V AC (50/60 Hz) via dedicated transformer · ≤ 5 W/m² |
| UV blocking | 99% in both states |
| Sound insulation | > 35 dB (laminated construction) |
| Panel thickness | 4+4 mm up to 10+10 mm |
| Panel sizes | 100 × 150 mm minimum · up to 1.8 × 3.2 m |
| Operating temperature | -20°C to 90°C |
| Glass options | Tempered, laminated, shaped, hot-bent, Low-E, fireproof, IGU |
| Warranty | 1 year |
Every switching zone needs its own power supply sized to the panel area it drives — the full lineup, with wattages, is on transformers and controls.
What laminated smart glass panels cost
Panel materials start at $100 per square foot. That's the real floor for this product, not a teaser: the final number moves with your dimensions, glass thickness, and build, because a 6 sq ft interior lite and a shaped Low-E IGU are not the same panel. Installation, where we're doing it, is quoted separately after we've seen the glazing details.
For comparison, film materials for a retrofit start at $35/sq ft — which is the honest reason we talk most homeowners out of new panels when their glass is staying put. The full breakdown of both, line by line with a real itemized estimate, is on the smart glass cost page.
Bulk pricing applies on larger jobs. We quote it per project rather than publishing a volume rate card, because the discount depends on panel count, repeat sizes, and how much of the run shares one glass makeup — repeat sizes cut fabrication time far more than square footage alone does.
Buying direct from the fabricator, and what "bulk" actually gets you
Smart View is the fabricator, not a reseller. The panels are cut, the busbars applied and soldered, and every panel switch-tested at 7327 Canoga Ave, Canoga Park, CA 91303 — the same building that answers the phone when a panel needs service. Buying direct is what makes the following true rather than aspirational:
- Custom-cut to your glass, from your dimensions — not a stock size you trim down.
- Busbars factory-applied and soldered, then concealed at the edge, with the leads placed for your wiring run.
- Every panel switch-tested across its full surface before it's crated.
- A showroom you can visit at the same address, with live switching samples wired up — Monday–Thursday 8am–4pm, Friday 8am–1pm.
- CA licence #1134029, a 1-year workmanship warranty on installed work, plus the manufacturer's film and glass warranties.
On volume: there's no published minimum order quantity and no stock lead time on this page, because we don't have honest fixed numbers to give you — we've fabricated single interior lites and we've fabricated multi-panel runs, and the shop time for a plain laminated panel and a sealed IGU are different jobs. Send the schedule and you get both numbers in writing, specific to your panels. Trade and contractor accounts are handled through smart glass partnerships; the wider product range — film, transformers, complete window units — is on buy smart glass and smart film.
How to order: what we need to quote a panel
- Send the sizes. For panels we need real glass dimensions, not just photos: width and height per panel, thickness or the frame's glazing pocket, and the glass makeup if it's a replacement. Photos help; a glazing schedule or an elevation helps more.
- Get a free written quote. Materials, busbars, transformer sizing, crating, and labor if we're installing — itemized, usually within one to two business days. Your lead time and any volume pricing come with it.
- Approve and we build it. Cut, laminated, busbars soldered, and switch-tested in Canoga Park.
- Install or supply. We schedule the install across the LA region, or crate the panels with a wiring guide for your glazier and electrician.
Request your estimate or call (866) 728-9888 with your panel schedule.
Where we install, and where we only supply
Worth being exact about, because "near me" searches land here and the answer has two halves.
We install across the Los Angeles metro with our own crew — the Valley, the Westside, Downtown, the South Bay, Pasadena, and out to Orange County and Ventura — plus large or commercial jobs within roughly a five-to-six-hour drive, which covers San Diego, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and the Bay Area. What that involves is on smart glass installation.
We supply only everywhere else. Material-only panel orders are prepared per project across the United States: we confirm specs and lead times with you before fabrication, then the panels ship crated with a wiring guide, and your glazier sets them and your electrician makes the two low-voltage connections. We do not install outside the range above, and we won't pretend otherwise on a quote.
Laminated panels we've actually installed
Three of our completed projects are genuine laminated-panel jobs rather than film retrofits — these are them, with what each one actually was:
- West Hollywood laminated panel — West Hollywood: one 17 sq ft panel, PDLC laminated inside the glass, sized to an existing interior opening between the master bath and the bedroom and seated in the marble reveal on four polished stainless clamps. One wall switch.
- Los Angeles French door glass replacement — Los Angeles, 2025: the original glazing in a set of living-room French doors replaced with laminated switchable panels at matching footprint and thickness. Muntins, hardware, and divided-light proportions untouched; one remote frosts every panel.
- Beverly Hills clinic laminated glass — Beverly Hills, 2024: 200 sq ft of PDLC switchable smart glass through Dr. Desai's plastic surgery practice in the Clock Tower building on Rodeo Drive, across the interior doors and glass surfaces, all of it tied into the practice's Lutron smart-switch system.
That's a short list, and deliberately so — we won't pad it with film retrofits, which is what the rest of the portfolio is. What stands behind a panel order beyond those three jobs is the shop: the lamination, the cutting, the busbar work, and the switch test happen here, on every panel that goes out, whether it's one lite or a truckload.
Get a panel quote
Send your glass schedule — panel sizes, thickness, and the build you're after. Request your estimate or call (866) 728-9888, and we'll come back with materials, transformer sizing, your lead time, and volume pricing if the run warrants it, usually within one to two business days.