Sunlight protection measures such as awnings and structural canopies to provide shade are included below in sunlight protection window coverings such as blinds.

Skylights can have clear or diffusive glazing. Skylights with diffusive glazing prevent the incidence of direct sunlight, but they do not usually give any additional sunlight protection. Sunlight protection should be provided for skylights with clear glazing.

Louver systems and diffusive glazing primarily serve to provide protection from sunlight. Skylights with diffusive glazing or with clear glazing and louver systems must therefore be correctly dimensioned to provide suitable light protection. If skylights are too large, illuminance limits or the annual exposure to light as set out in Table 3 in the introduction could be significantly exceeded. It may therefore be necessary to provide additional protection from light. Skylights must also be provided with UV protection.

Table: Annual light exposure limits

Incandescent lamps and fluorescent lights are the types of artificial lighting most commonly found in museums and exhibitions. There are many different types of incandescent lamps. The "general-purpose incandescent lamp" with the familiar pear shape can be clear or frosted, and with or without a reflective coating. The many varieties of halogen lamps are also incandescent lamps, or to be more precise they could also be described as "thermal radiators". Fluorescent lights (often incorrectly referred to as "neon lights") are also often used for general-purpose lighting. From the point of view of protection from light, both tubular fluorescent lights and compact fluorescent lamps (including "energy-saving lights") should be treated the same. Besides these two types of lighting, in recent years a wide variety of LED lamps incorporating light-emitting diodes have also been used in museums, although not yet to any great extent. High-intensity discharge lamps, which also include the metal-halide lamps (white light) and sodium vapor lamps (yellow light) that are often used for exterior lighting, are used only very rarely for illumination purposes in cultural institutions. They cannot be readily dimmed, and they require a warm-up period even after they have just been switched off. As the light source for fiber-optic lighting, metal-halide lamps are used to illuminate display cases. The German association for the promotion of good lighting (Fördergemeinschaft Gutes Licht FGL) provides a good overview of the lamps mentioned in its booklet number 18.
Besides the above-mentioned types of lamps, special lamps are used for photographing, scanning or copying flat objects such as photographs, documents, newspapers etc. These have high luminous flux in the blue visible and near-UV spectrum. Exhibits may also be exposed to very high illuminance locally during scanning and copying. Since the exposure time is usually extremely short (< 1 sec) and the frequency of documentation is low (approx. once a year), the damaging dose is negligible in such cases. The light exposure as a result of openings, photoshoots or similar events may be more problematic if objects are subjected to uncontrolled high illuminance levels (> 1000 lx) over prolonged periods. In just a few hours, artworks could suffer a comparable level of damage to that caused by normal exhibition lighting over a month. For all kinds of TV and film recording, therefore, it should always be ensured that light-sensitive objects are exposed only when testing light levels and during the actual shooting, not during the intervals in between.

Booklet 18 published by the German association for the promotion of good lighting (Fördergemeinschaft Gutes Licht FGL): Good light for museums, galleries and exhibitions

Spotlights can focus light in such a way that it is emitted over only a relatively small angle (10°-40°). On the level of the object, e.g. on the wall, this produces a bright area which is more or less clearly demarcated. Good museum spotlights create a very even bright area on a white wall which only becomes slightly less bright toward the edge. No especially bright "hot spots" should be visible within the bright area as these are problematic for aesthetic reasons. Because they highlight or visually emphasize certain areas, they can lead to unintended artistic interpretations, and they are also of concern from a conservation perspective as well. When measuring the illumination of objects, median values are often used as the basis for assessing photochemical damage. However, objects react to the radiation actually present at each individual point. This can be many times higher at such hot spots (and accordingly can also cause much more damage). Hot spots can also cause serious thermal damage. Infrared radiation is likewise much higher at hot spots as well. An object will therefore heat up much more quickly and intensively at this point than in the surrounding area. The different expansion behavior of the spots of varying heat on the object creates mechanical stresses that could lead to cracking or tearing depending on the material in question.

The amount of light falling on exhibits (illuminance) is directly proportional to the damage caused. It is therefore necessary to measure light levels. Exhibit light levels are measured using a light meter, also known as a luxmeter. Depending on their precision, luxmeters are rated in a range of DIN quality classes: (from high to low) L, A, B and C. Class C meters are adequate for checking measurements. Light meters age and after prolonged use may no longer indicate the correct values. They should therefore be checked from time to time, and ideally calibrated annually. Old light meters should be replaced by new ones if necessary.

The amount of light falling on exhibits (illuminance) is directly proportional to the damage caused. With daylight illumination, the amount of light falling on exhibits can vary greatly depending on the time of day and the season, as well as on cloud cover conditions. It is therefore essential to comply with the specifications for annual light exposure (total illuminance over annual display time) depending on the sensitivity of the exhibits as set out in Table 3. See Table 1 for the sensitivity categories of exhibits. Owing to the variability of daylight, daylight illumination is not recommended for highly sensitive and moderately sensitive exhibits (Table 1, categories 3 and 4). For the same reason, light levels should be continually checked during different seasons and with different cloud cover conditions using a calibrated luxmeter rated DIN class C or higher. The illuminance should be measured with all artificial lighting switched off.

Table 2: Potential damage of light sources

Table 1: Material categories

Table 3: Annual light exposure limits

The amount of light falling on exhibits (illuminance) is directly proportional to the damage caused. It is therefore essential to comply with the specifications for exhibit light levels as well as for annual display time and annual light exposure (illuminance x annual display time) depending on the sensitivity of the exhibits as set out in Table 3. See Table 1 for the sensitivity categories of exhibits. Check the amount of light falling on exhibits using a calibrated luxmeter rated DIN class C or higher. The illuminance should be measured with all daylight excluded.

Table 2: Potential damage of light sources

Table 1: Material categories

Table 3: Annual light exposure limits

With the exception of ones not sensitive to light (Table 1, category 1), objects in storage rooms must also be protected from light. Constant lighting, especially outside operating hours, must always be avoided. Emergency lighting is essential.

Table 1: Material categories

With the exception of ones not sensitive to light (Table 1, category 1), objects kept in restoration facilities must also be protected from light. Usually higher light levels are necessary for carrying out restoration work. The lighting must be switched off outside these working periods.

Table 1: Material categories

Some materials can be damaged by sudden changes in temperature. This damage is usually mechanical and frequently occurs in objects composed of different materials, such as inlaid woodwork, all kinds of instruments, and sculptures made of a combination of wood, metal or glass. Since each individual material reacts to heat with differing degrees of expansion, changes in temperature can cause high mechanical tension between the materials that leads to cracks and surface damage. All temperature-sensitive exhibits should therefore be displayed in rooms with a stable room temperature (ensured by air conditioning if necessary). Illumination with natural and artificial lighting always leads to a (slow) rise in indoor air temperature, which is counteracted by the air conditioning and consequently does not cause any damage. It is an entirely different matter where the temperature at an exhibit rises as a result of direct radiation. This can lead to rapid heating which is not counteracted by the air conditioning (see also the explanation and tips for question 9.6 Artificial lighting - Spotlights/accent lighting). The risk of damage increases in line with the amount of infrared radiation in the light emitted by the lamp, and is consequently especially high in the case of incandescent lamps as well as sunlight.