Antennas in Your Windshield

Some vehicles have the antenna attached, embedded into the auto glass (between the layers) or use special coatings as the antenna. These antennas are reliable and perform as well as the more traditional fender whip versions while eliminating the wind noise accosciate with their predecessors.

PPG introduced its Sungate
Antenna windshield in 1997 on
GM's minivan line including the
Chevy Venture above.

Some common problems to watch for with this feature are:

• If there is noticeable damage to the auto glass, reception may be compromised.
• Some glass adhesives may interfere with or short out the signal. Non-conductive adhesives are necessary when embedding an antenna in auto glass.
• When the auto glass needs to be replaced, the replacement wll need to incorporate a new antenna as well which will potentially increase the cost.

In 1997 PPG introduced a variation of their popular Sungate windshield which used it's transparent coating as an AM/FM radio antenna. While not the first windshield to offer an integrated antenna it was the first to do while being solar reflective. Given the size of windshields and the amount of auto glass in most modern cars solar reflection is important to reduce interior heat allowing for smaller ac units to be used and better fuiel efficiency. Sungate Antenna windshields were initially offered on 1997 GM minivans and received a 1998 R&D 100 Award for innovation from R&D Magazine.

Take a look at other special windshield options