SiO2/VO2 thermochromic coatings are prepared via VO2 sintering alone and SiO2/VO2 co-sintering, respectively. The microstructure, thermochromic properties and optical properties of samples are studied. The experimental results show that both the microstructure and the above properties of the coatings are strongly dependent on the deposition process, whereas the type of SiO2 precursor sols only have little effect on the microstructure and even less effect on the thermochromic and optical properties. When the coatings are prepared by the VO2 alone-sintering routine, the SiO2/VO2 coatings obtain high transmittance under the condition of slight loss in thermochromic properties. The double-layer coating sample exhibited good comprehensive performance, its near infrared switching rate at 2000 nm value is 39.6%, the solar energy modulation value is 8.4%, and the integral visible transmittance and the integral solar transmittance at 25 ℃ are 68.4% and 72.0%, respectively.