Abstract
An essential impact which can improve the indoor environment and save on power consumption for artificial lighting is utilization of daylight. Optical fiber daylighting technology offers a way to use direct daylight for remote spaces in a building. However, the existing paradigm based on the precise orientation of sunlight concentrator toward the Sun is very costly and difficult to install on the roof of buildings. Here, we explore an alternative approach using mirror-coated lens array and planar waveguide to develop a flat optical fiber daylighting system (optical fiber daylighting panel) with lateral displacement Sun-tracking mechanism. Sunlight collected and reflected by each mirror-coated lens in a rectangular lens array is coupled into a planar waveguide using cone prisms placed at each lens focus. This geometry yields a thin, flat profile for Sunlight concentrator. Our proposed concentrating panel can be achieved with 35 mm thickness while the concentrator’s width and length are 500 mm × 500 mm. The commercial optical simulation tool (LightToolsTM) was used to develop the simulation models and analyze the system performance. Simulation results based on the designed system demonstrated an optical efficiency of 51.4% at a concentration ratio of 125. The system can support utilizing a lateral displacement Sun-tracking system, which allows for replacing bulky and robust conventional rotational Sun-tracking systems. This study shows a feasibility of a compact and inexpensive optical fiber daylighting system to be installed on the roof of buildings.
Highlights
The Sun is the most plentiful energy source for the Earth, and is a renewable, sustainable and totally inexhaustible energy source
This study shows a feasibility of a compact and inexpensive optical fiber daylighting system to be installed on the roof of buildings
We propose a novel approach based on using two-dimensional (2D) array of mirror-coated spherical lenses and planar waveguide instead of the achieve higher optical efficiency and allows replacing rotational Sun-tracking to lateral displacement
Summary
The Sun is the most plentiful energy source for the Earth, and is a renewable, sustainable and totally inexhaustible energy source. In sustainable buildings, daylighting can provide energy reductions through the use of electric light controls, and it can reduce the dependence on artificial lighting, which cannot fulfill the needs of the human body. Krarti M. et al have estimated that the energy consumption for artificial lighting in the building can be reduced 50% to 80% by efficient utilization of daylighting [3]. The high cost and low optical efficiency are challenges of any daylighting system. Many research groups have been concentrating on these problems by simplifying a daylighting system design as a cost-effective solution. In terms of delivery of natural light to remote areas in a building where daylight is limited, the most efficient solution is optical fiber-based daylighting technology
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