I grew up in S. Florida and we had aluminum awnings (in the 60's).
They work very well, and can be hurricane rated, meaning they protect your windows from hurricane damage by being lowered. That also allows you to leave your windows open a little during the hurricane while helps normalize the pressure in your house. When the hurricane passes by the pressure difference (inside and outside) and wind can result inn popping your roof off. I don't know if it is a problem on modern houses. But, the window protection is real.
The down side, as I recall from then, was the noise. They are noisy during heavy rain or hail storms. (We don't get many hail storms here, seems like there were more in the South.
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