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Solar power systems advancements - innovations explored by MySolarPower

Research is showing that in today’s rapidly advancing environment, the approach now to solar design encompasses the use of computer modelling to get a completely integrated solar design package inclusive of solar lighting, solar heating, solar power supply, and solar ventilation.

Where fully integrated systems are now being considered the technology is becoming so advanced that it includes tracking and capturing natural sunlight and re-distributing it through fibre optic cables

To overcome the fact that the technology became neither cost effective nor reliable when the sunlight was poor Dr. Earl and his team at Oak Ridge Nation laboratory developed a rooftop two-axis tracking solar platform.

Hybrid Solar Lighting

According to Wikipedia, Hybrid solar lighting “are systems that sunlight converts into fiber optic bundles that provide other sunlight into rooms without windows or other skylights. The bundles are led through openings and carries the light where it's needed. The optical fibres in hybrid luminaries where sunlight is joined with the electric light that is arranged to keep the entire light level the same within the area that is lighted.”

Many of us, especially in winter, long for a sunny day as we almost all crave natural light, so it would seem advantageous if we could get more of it into our buildings and avoid artificial electric light if possible – Hybrid solar lighting (HSL) was designed to do just that.

HSL is intended as a fully automated system, which, to light a room, combines artificial light (mostly energy-saving fluorescents) and daylight which is transported via fibre-optic cables. On bright sunny days around 75% of the light comes from daylight, but when the sun is obscured, photocells detect low light levels and automatically increase the artificial light. It is generally believed that HSL reduces overall artificial lighting by around 50%.

A Sun Tube or Sun Pipe as they are commonly known is used to transport daylight to a windowless room – as no electricity is used it is rated at zero carbon emissions.

Natural daylight is much easier on the eye than artificial lighting, and it can help reduce the effects of seasonal affective disorder.

In principal a dish about 1 metre diameter is placed on the roof which collects sunlight and pass it through fibre optic cables – the dish swivels throughout the day in order to collect the maximum sunlight levels. Every dish can accommodate around 10 hybrid solar light fittings.

Advantages –

On bright days it is effective and offers energy savings
Reduces your carbon footprint
Helps potentially to slow down climate change
Blocks infrared and ultraviolet
Can help reduce air conditioning costs
Can heavily reduce costs in schools and public buildings where high levels of artificial light is used
May help reduce some of the effects of seasonal affective disorder

Disadvantages –

Fibre optic cables can only carry light for limited distances without amplification
Most effective in rooms nearest to the roof collection systems
Not usually cost effective in the average home

We note that many more companies now are engaging in hybrid systems and fully integrated solar energy systems so it seems more than likely that the innovations will continue at pace and that as the costs decrease the advantages will increase.
MySolarPower will continue to monitor the advances and update as required.

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