I don't understand why polished stainless steel would be a bad reflector - perhaps sun2steam can clarify. Derek Wrigley has many years experience using polished stainless steel in his various successful projects.
The scattered reflections off the dappled surface of sarking is interesting for lightshelf type uses, though more directional than just white paint. When standing in the shade on the receiving end of sarking reflections (done intentionally), there is no doubt at all about it reflecting heat.
The 'Rosco Shrink Mirror' film that I mentioned above is cheaper now than it was, due to currency parity, and I have made a flat mirror and a flexible mirror with it as prototypes for a current project.
For the relatively low cost of about $18 per sq m it is quite close to a 'normal' glass mirror in appearance, not as shiny as stainless but a lot easier to keep flat because it's shrunk onto a frame.
Next thing I'll try is to make some exterior mirrors and see what happens to the material in the elements.
Posted Monday 7 Feb 2011 @ 11:31:42 am from IP
#