Why haven't solar power optic fiber light units become more popular?

[ObamaRules]

It always made sense to me that they could use fiber optics to move sunlight from roofs into the structure. This would seem to be much more efficient than converting the sunlight to electricity and then moving the electricity to the building's lights and then converting the electricity back into lights. If you set up electric lights to balance out the solar fiber optics, you could have a cheap and efficient use of electricity. It would seem to be a great choice for malls and other similar structures.

[Crazy Dave]

1. Welcome to DU ObamaRules

:hi:

I think it's the initial costs and short-sightedness of builders and/or their customers. Right now traditional energy methods and equipment are in abundant and cheaper to acquire and install than newer alternatives. Save a dime now but pay a dollar later instead of the opposite.

[ObamaRules]

10. Thank you, these are all great replies N/T

[oldhippie]

2. Have you done the numbers on some typical cases?

Lots of things "seem" to make sense until you do the math. Take a couple of typical cases, do the research on the costs, and run the numbers. Armed with that knowledge you can see where the issues might be.

[conscious evolution]

3. Mainly because

it would be a MAJOR pain in the ass to install the fibers.At least IMO,anyways.
Trust me.I had to install a light fixture that used fibers instead of lightbulbs.Putting the thing together was a nightmare.And it didn't work very well to boot.

Its not a bad idea just one that is ahead of its time.

[localroger]

4. Expense, leaking, and storage

In some designs light shafts are used, because the geometry permits and they're much cheaper than fiberoptics, but even then they don't work at night or in dark cloudy weather, and you can't store the light to use later. And any time you put a hole in the roof you have the pottential for leaks; sunroofs of all types are notorious for this.

[RC]

5. Maybe because solar power seems to just disappear for 8 to 16 hours a day

depending on the time of year. And this is not including thick cloud cover for day or even weeks at a time. In other words solar lighting is not very reliable.

[Ian David]

6. See: SolaTubes

http://www.solatube.com/homeowner/productcatalog.php




I like this idea, but it's much cheaper and easier to screw-in a lightbulb than to start tearing holes in my roof.

[angrycarpenter]

9. We installed some of these a few years ago.

They worked as advertised but I had little faith in the plastic globes on top to withstand the Florida sun without becoming hazy and brittle.

[Ian David]

12. I suppose you could request quartz crystal glass, like they use on spacecraft.

[Ian David]

7. My home is lit entirely by bioluminescent bacteria that feed off my gray-water recycling system.

Not really.

[kristopher]

8. There are two types of fiber

(this was the case 15 or so years ago anyway) One type is plastic and inexpensive, the other is glass and expensive. The plastic has a strong green tint to it, but the glass is clear. So you could do it fairly cheaply, but the light is putrid; or you can get natural light, but the cost is out of sight.

Maybe it has changed since I looked into it.

[Dogmudgeon]

11. Why not try mirrors first?

"Mirrors" as in mirrored surfaces in ductwork.

They're cheaper than optical fibers, and mirrors have been used from time to time in indoor lighting.

--p!