My daughter & son-in-law have solar window screens on their house. I really like the look both from the inside and outside. I want to install some on my house. I have 25 windows on my house. I also have 2 more on the garage and 2 on the adjoining utility room. The garage and utility room do not have A/C & heat. I may or may not install on these last 4 windows.

What recommendations & experiences do y'all have with DIY kits? Is there much difference between 80% and 90% solar cloth? Thanks in advance for your responses!

I ordered kits online from Solar Screen Outlet in Dallas with good success. Went with the black 80% screen which is good balance between privacy & light for all the rear windows facing the west sun. Easy to build & install.

If you're going to put them on front windows, some HOAs might not allow that. For the front windows we used solar pull-down shades (white 5%) for more privacy (Ron Austin's Discount Blinds, if in Houston).

90% is a lot more difficult to roll than 80%

I went with 90% on my back west facing windows, however, if I had to do it over again I would go with 80% as they're a little too dark for me. Although I only put them up around 5 months out of the year and take them down during the cooler months and store them in the garage. We bought everything at Home Depot and they were really easy to build.

Why not begin with a test ... on only one - most offensively hot room?
Home Depot sells rolls of this + tack hammer = see what happens!

We had full screens already, so Mr Dubi just bought a roll of solar screen at Home Depot. He used a piece of plywood to tack down the screen around the edges of the wood and then used the screen tool (looks like a pizza cutter) to roll the big rubber band back in the track.

It was very inexpensive to do all the sun facing windows and they have made a huge difference in an old house.