According to some estimates, 30% of the electricity used in the United States alone comes from lighting alone, and for retailers, that number jumps to 45%.
But this next story shows that those numbers could drop dramatically just by letting the sun shine in.
Duncan Earl looks like he’s recreating a scene from Starwars, but he’s really demonstrating a slick new lighting system.
It could save millions of dollars in energy costs, it could improve worker productivity. It’s called hybrid solar lighting and some buildings are already seeing the light.
We are here on the roof of the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oakridge, Tennessee, where we see a solar collector that is part of Sunlight Direct’s HSL3000 system.
Hybrid solar lighting components
This system consists of a primary mirror 48 inches in diameter which concentrates the light towards the secondary mirror. This secondary mirror eliminates UV and infrared wavelengths.
Removing the infrared UV light reduces the heat in the optical fiber and, why not, you can’t see that light anyway?
Visible light is focused on the fiber optic receiver.
The fiber optic receiver contains optical fibers which are then passed inside the building for building lighting.
Like electrical wire sent to light fixtures, fibers are easily installed and replaced.
Unlike fluorescent lights that require power, the solar hybrid system only needs a single 9-volt battery to power solar tracking system for a week.
“The solar tracking mechanism consists of two motors controlled by a GPS microprocessor.
The GPS microprocessor can calculate the exact position of the sun to within 1 degree. and it makes the lights shine.
What light output does it give?
“To give you an idea of the amount of light emitted by these optical fibers, only 2 of these fibers produce enough light to equal a 60 watt light bulb and there are one hundred and twenty-seven of these optical fibers in our bundle. . “
The stripes on this rod help distribute the light, but what if it’s cloudy or raining outside? This is where the hybrid comes in.
“Lighting fixtures mix sunlight with artificial lamps from fluorescent or incandescent lamps which should create a hybrid light fixture.
Photo sensors in the room monitor the intensity and ensure that the artificial lights increase or decrease proportionally to maintain constant room lighting.