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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.

2 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Re:what a great idea! by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 4, Insightful

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

    That's not a bug.....it's a feature.

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
  2. Sunpipes are old news by petes_PoV · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Though this one, looks far too complicated, with it's solar tracker 'n' all. Too much to go wrong for what has generally been considered a simple solution due to it's low-tech approach at getting light into a space.

    However they all suffer from the same drawbacks. You want lighting when it's dark - not (just) during the day, so you still have to install conventional lighting too. Plus they aren't so good when it's cloudy. They also pump in all the solar heat as well as the light so you use more energy than you save cooling the place down.

    --
    politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons