The back of my house faces west, and during July and August, the sun hits it directly in the afternoon through evening. On a warm day, this can cause the house to heat up quite a bit, so I'm making it a project to minimize the heat. One thing I'm looking at is being able to shade the windows from the sun. My neighbor uses awnings, but I'm not a big fan of the designs I've seen. I'm also considering shutters (as I saw on all buildings during a recent trip to Italy), but I'm not sure I'll find anything that suits the house. I'm also considering some simple roll-down blinds, maybe even something that I only attach during the warmest days.
My question is what are the design considerations I need to take into account for making sure I'm coming up with a solution that minimizes heat? Is anything that blocks/reflects the sun from the window enough? Are there other things to consider?
[Postscript: I'm also using landscaping to cut down on the heat, but it's going to take a while for some of the trees to grow into effective blocks.]
Update: Just came across this article, which doesn't go into a lot of depth, but does give a good overview of several options.
Best Answer
Down here in Texas, solar screens are the thing to have. They're simply black mesh panels that install over the outside of the entire window, and in addition to being basic bug and safety screens, they reduce the amount of sunlight coming in to the window. You can still see out very well, so unless this is a big all-glass window wall (in which case I'd use tinting film similar to car windows) it's the thing to use.
Insulating, light-blocking curtains are another way to reduce solar gain. Yes they're inside, but they still work. Only problem is that you can't see through them.