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Pumping Sunlight Into Homes

Posted by kdawson on from the doctor-my-eyes dept.

ByronScott sends a snippet from Inhabitat that begins "What if you could light your entire building using no electricity or artificial lights – but just the natural light from our favorite star, the Sun? Enter the Sundolier, a powerful sunlight transport system that's like putting a solar robot on your roof to pump sunlight indoors. The manufacturer claims a single Sundolier unit can provide enough light to illuminate a 1,000-2,500 sq. ft. area [93-232 sq. m] without any other sources." The company's website is a bit thin on details, such as what happens on cloudy days, or how many days of sunlight per year on average are needed for the device to perform acceptably.

10 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. what a great idea! by cnkurzke · · Score: 4, Funny

    this works amazing, we should find a new name for this revolutionary device, how about we call it a WINDOW????

    only downside, it doesnt work when it's needed most, namely AT NIGHT, when it's dark.

    Maybe WINDOWS version 2.1 will fix that??

    1. Re:what a great idea! by anarche · · Score: 2, Funny

      Didnt they use these back in ancient times with someone adjusting the mirrors by hand

      Yes, but I've been banned from training monkeys to move the mirrors and the slaves keep going blind.

      Never trust a blind slave to shave you...

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    2. Re:what a great idea! by feepness · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, but I've been banned from training monkeys to move the mirrors and the slaves keep going blind. Never trust a blind slave to shave you...

      The sighted monkeys aren't such a great idea either.

    3. Re:what a great idea! by hey0you0guy · · Score: 2, Funny

      It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times!?

  2. This one goes around corners by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Something like this one: http://www.sunlight-direct.com/ uses fiber optic cables to catch the sunlight and then send it around corners/to other floors/etc. It also doesn't work at night . . . yet. But throw in a few undersea cables (interlight backbone) and we could have a daylight exchange program with nations on the other side of the planet.

  3. Re:Why haven't these been around? by fractoid · · Score: 2, Funny

    The difference - and this is important - is that they used the word 'robot' and pretended it was something exciting, rather than an incremental improvement on the standard light-pipe design.

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  4. Hey! by icebraining · · Score: 3, Funny

    our favorite star, the Sun?

    My favorite star is Proxima Centauri, you insensitive clod.

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  5. but... by flyingfsck · · Score: 2, Funny

    does it run Linux?

    Sorry, someone had to ask.

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    1. Re:but... by jarbrewer · · Score: 2, Funny

      does it run Linux?

      More importantly, could you set up a sufficiently large Beowulf cluster of these things to light, say, 1/2 the earth at any given time?

  6. Re:There are no details by countertrolling · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, you might have trouble during an eclipse...

    No problem. We'll just put up a National Eclipse Warning System to tell people to move to higher ground. Something with lasers, of course.

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