Potential of Solatube technology as passive daylight systems for sustainable buildings in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Saudi Arabia is one of the most important countries that have an abundant potential of renewable energy resources in form of solar and wind energy. In light of Saudi Arabia's vision 2030, renewable energy should fractionally replace fossil fuel in energy production during the different aspects of life in the next few years. As a result of the distinguished geographical location of Saudi Arabia, in the sun-belt zone, solar energy projects have contributed to a wide field during the past few years in smart city projects as well as sustainable building initiatives. Most of the solar energy applications in Saudi Arabia's sustainable buildings have been directed to solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies. However, the utilization of passive solar daylighting systems in Saudi Arabia's sustainable buildings has received little attention, although it can save about 20–30% of the total electrical energy consumed. Recently, Solatube technology has received great attention globally due to the positive environmental impact and the resulting internal health conditions. Solatube system can transport efficiently the daylight into the interior spaces and achieve visual comfort without excessive heat. In the present paper, the potential of Solatube technology in Saudi Arabia's sustainable building sectors is evaluated and the required climate conditions are discussed. Different other aspects will be also discussed related to the Solatube daylight systems such as the different types of Solatube systems, the different applications of Solatube daylight systems, and the illustration of the previous case studies of Solatube daylight systems in different countries. In general, it is concluded that Saudi Arabia as one of the largest solar energy producers and has widespread desert land and year-round clear sky is very suitable for adopting Solatube technology in different sustainable building sectors.