they were made of folding metal panels (finger pinchers!), and were starting to fall apart. they were a pain to close and open because we had to open the windows to do it. that let in a lot of cold air in winter, and the sliding windows made the whole operation awkward.
the new shutters are closed. the black strips on the top of each are the solar panels that generate the power to operate them.
now we have these new shutters that roll down. no more having to open the window to close or open them. each room has a remote control and all we have to do is to push 