The skylights in the house we are purchasing have those built-in motorized blinds. We were finally able to check the house out when it was already dark. Blinds are not blackout shades. Too much light gets through for our tastes through the skylights in the bedroom! Maybe the newer blinds are better designed… One thing for sure - the skylights are ancient yet still functional, so if past performance is any indication of the future performance, that Velux product is quite durable.
“To those monitoring at NSA, sorry. My backside wasn’t worth your time.”
LOL. Think of another threat - drones. 
LOL–H and I were just talking about drones and our bathroom skylight yesterday. . . Maybe we should get blinds? OTOH, the view from the outside is nothing special.
The skylight makes “getting ready” (putting on make-up, doing hair) much easier!!!
Bunsen, we no longer live in that house, or I would have fitted it with blinds. Kids n my street have drones.
I wonder if the skylights can be fitted with one-way glass or … not sure what the word is that I’m looking for. In our old house, we had a greenhouse window in the shower with that pebbly glass that didn’t let anything be seen.
One other thought. If anyone gets a Velux window, I highly recommend using a Velux dealer for installation. I had our roofer do it so that there could be no squawks about his fault/their fault in case of a leak (there have been none, so that was a non-issue), but he had a devil of a time getting it to work, because there are sneaky Velux secrets required for activation that were not in the installation instructions (at least not anywhere either of us could see). Some weird pinholes along the frame that needed to be activated or something like that. Velux customer service was VERY helpful in solving the problem, but it required time and a second visit to get it working right.
My SisIL has a skylight in her bathroom. It was fine for decades but did start leaking more recently. It has been repaired and it also opens for ventilation. She has a fixed skylight over her stairwell. It adds light and has never leaked. We have no skylights–H dislikes holes in the roof. I’m increasingly light sensitive. We have LOTS of windows throughout the house, including bathrooms.
Regarding the velux shade that comes with the solar option-there are various degrees of opaqueness that can be installed. I got a light filtering, but there are blackout level options.
AboutTheSame, interesting about the activation. I had a little problem with mine at the end of fall, though it was perfect from summer through October. My contractor had no problem with the install and initial programming. This is some sort of minor remote recognition glitch. It has been closed all winter, so will deal with it when open window season arrives.
Exactly, @“great lakes mom” : it was a recognition thing. The control thing could not "find’ the window until the proper steps were taken to wake the window up – or whatever the right term is. Has worked fine ever since, even when I replace the batteries in the control panel.
I loved my skylights in my last house. They were non opening & I think they were privacy glass. Mine were primarily on the north slope of the roof. Makes for gentle diffuse light vs. intense heat buildup from summer sun.
I did not have any in my bedroom but I loved sleeping in the living room where the vaulted ceiling & uncurtained transom windows allowed me to wake up gradually to natural light. Nobody had drones then, though.