Abstract
Because a traditional optical fiber light guiding system includes a tracking device, it also inevitably has a complex structure, high construction and maintenance costs, short life span and low reliability. Although several types have been developed for decades, there are no successful products on the market. The biggest cause of the problem is that all traditional optical fiber light guiding systems must have a tracking device. This paper studies a solar fiber optic guide system without a tracking device, hoping to solve this problem. A fixed fiber light guide system using concave outlet concentrators as its receiving unit is proposed. The structure and working principle of the concave outlet concentrator, the receiving unit and the light guide system are introduced. With optical simulation software and the actual sunlight experimental method, this paper first discusses the conceptual design of the concentrator, then studies the transmission efficiency curve of the receiving unit with different angles of incident light, and finally tests the output illuminance of the whole system in actual sunlight. Field test results show that when the average sunshine intensity is about 800 W/m2, the system has an output of nearly 300 lux at 0.4 m in front of the outlet end of the fiber bundle with only 3.11×10−2 m2 receiving area. This illumination has been able to meet people’s daily lighting requirements. The results of computer simulation and actual sunlight experiments show that this fixed optical fiber light guide system with non-tracing structure is feasible. The absence of a tracking structure means that all moving parts of the system are completely discarded. This greatly improves the working reliability and operation life of the light guide system, and greatly reduces the maintenance and operating costs.
Highlights
4 min, the range of effective output illuminance received by the fixed light guide system is 64◦, which is more than 4 h of sunshine, that is, 2 h before noon and 2 h after noon
Due to the ingenious design, the receiving unit composed of this concentrator with a concave exit structure makes the light more favorable for coupling with the fiber
The fixed light guide system is composed of multiple rows and columns of receiving units, which is similar to a sunflower
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Researchers have explored more detailed research on the application of light tubes [2,3,4,5] Another scheme, the optical fiber light guide [6], has advantages such as high illumination intensity, flexible light transmission, small space occupancy and so on. Many hybrid optical fiber daylighting and photovoltaic solar lighting systems were proposed recently [20,21,22] All these light guiding systems mentioned above require tracking systems with mechanical moving parts and an external power supply. For a traditional optical fiber guide system, its shortcomings of high cost, complex structure, low reliability and short life are largely due to the tracking device. A new structure will be designed to make the fixed fiber light guide system simpler, more reliable and more efficient in higher light energy coupling
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
