Light transfer through semi-transparent glass panes supporting pendant droplets

•Glass samples with droplet contact angle θc = 25-77o, surface area coverage fA = 20-50%.•For θc < 42°, droplets did not affect the normal-hemispherical transmittance.•For θc > 42°, the transmittance decreased and reflectance increased with increasing θc and fA.•Observations were due to total internal reflection at the droplet/air interface.•Measurements agreed well with predictions from the Monte Carlo Ray Tracing method.