I had exactly the same scenario. Large super wide beautiful windows in my living/dining combo with amazing views (we are on a hill top). But the sun gets really glaring in the summers in the morning and afternoon. So after a ton of research I invested in exterior solar shades from blinds.com (not affiliated in any way). Got them installed on the exterior of the house. Like you have 4 panels, I have 6 panels, the center two panels are sliding doors that open up to a patio. So I got one solar blind each for each of the 6 panels, got them installed on the exterior. They let the view to still be very visible. They control the heat and the glare that the sun gets into the house very well. Overall, its been a year that they have been installed, and I couldnt have been happier. From the inside I cant tell that I have any shades installed when they are not down. Also coz they are the roller kinds, I can control how much down do I want to pull them. I got the manual ones, so I do have to go to the patio to bring them up and down, not a big deal, as I love going out and enjoying the view. In winters - they stay up almost always. In mid-summer, I end up bringing them up and down everyday. I started with samples from blinds.com and they send them for free. They have sales often, so watch for that. The customer service is excellent too - one of my blinds would not come up and down that easily, there was a bit of tension in it - they mailed me a replacement without any questions.

slowjane, we have a retractable awning for an east facing room on our house in Northern California and we love it. We were using the room as a nursery and in the summer it would be uncomfortably hot by late morning just when the baby wanted a nap -- the awning solved that. As a bonus, our patio is now useable in the summer. Ours was probably around $1000? ordered through Costco, but it is motorized and I'm guessing it's 12-15 ft wide (it spans a set of French doors and two additional windows). I'd guess you might get a manual retractable awning for a single window for a lot less? Good luck.

Wow what a view! Just gorgeous!!! Don’t blame you for not wanting to cover up even for a minute. I also didn’t want shades and I have just installed solar film on our back windows, I also didn’t want to darken the room.. We installed a film that has very little color in them but supposedly blocks like 97% of the harmful UV rays. You cannot tell that they have it on. I was just saying though what if this is all hype and they really aren’t blocking the rays?! Haha I have only had them about three months so no way to know for sure I guess. I really haven’t noticed a difference at all with them on. When you touch the glass they are hot though so maybe not allowing the heat to pass through.

Love my exterior Koolaroos! They stop heat before it enters the house, so yes, the company is right about not heating up the glass. Koolaroos were about 50 USD per 4' x 5' window so the price is right. There are many factors to consider for any window covering: * Size (huge window? any solution will cost more) * Accessibility (can you easily reach the window location to manually operate shades? if not, you may need motorized which sends cost skyward and often, reliability downward) * Wind (outdoor shades always need anchoring, indoor ones may too, depending on whether you open the windows and what your typical winds and exposure are) - Can wind anchoring hold shades in just full open or full closed, or can you have an intermediate position with anchoring? How do you operate anchoring? * Appearance (very visible location where HOA demands perfection, or concealed sideyard where nobody cares?) * How often will you need/want to adjust shade position? Multiple times daily? Or just when seasons change? * Durability and resistance to UV, windblown soil (dirt/greasy pollen/air pollution/bird droppings/collected leaves etc.), water including standing or freezing water etc. etc. - UV is very damaging to materials that aren't treated to resist it. Insist on UV-designed materials, otherwise your window coverings shred to bits in just a few seasons if your location is sunny And above all, just think very hard about what your main goals and expectations are, throughout the day and with the change of seasons and weather. This can vary from window to window as each has a different exposure.