Hybrid Solar Lights

What if our building interiors could be lit by sunshine from outside?

Did you know that lighting the interiors of our homes and offices consumes nearly 40% of all energy generated in the country?  Other than installing compact fluorescent bulbs and diligently turning off appliances, what can you do to cut your monthly electric bill?  Have your heard about about hybrid solar lights?

Hybrid solar lights (aka HSL) are not your typical solar power product.  Instead of using solar panels to capture energy and convert it into electricity, hybrid solar lights work by literally bringing the sunshine into a room through the use of optical fibers.

Here is a demonstration of a hybrid solar light set-up:

Your new office!

The future looks bright for hybrid solar lights.  For starters, the efficiency rate is considerably higher than for conventional solar panels.  As much as 50% of sunlight collected by a hybrid solar light system can be used to illuminate building interiors.  This is in comparison to 15-25% efficiency rate of PV panels.

Equally impressive is the fact that hybrid solar lights will not put off heat as does conventional lighting.  This means that you’ll have to pay much less in A/C costs during warm times of the year.  Why is this?  The light collectors filter out infrared light, which is the biggest heat emitter on the spectrum.

Do you suffer from depression or the winter blues?  Hybrid solar lights may be an effective form of treatment.  Just as if you were out in the sunshine, the lights emit a full spectrum of light.  Ordinary fluorescent bulbs have limited lighting spectra.

The hybrid solar light technology is fairly straightforward.  Rooftop collectors are first installed, equipped with tracking devices to maximize sunlight exposure.  When sunshine strikes the collectors, the natural light is focused onto a bundle of more than 100 optical fibers, which literally act as “pipes” for the sunlight.

The optical fibers are connected to specialized hybrid solar light fixtures on the interior of the building.  A single collector can power about eight HSL fixtures.

But what if its not sunny?  No worries!  You will still have light in your home or office.  As part of the hybrid solar light system, photosensors will automatically adjust the amount of electric current required to keep the room light.  One drawback of HSL is that the length of the optical fibers affect their efficiency.  Longer fibers do not illuminate as effectively as short ones.  For this reason, some people are only installing hybrid solar lights on the top floors of their buildings.

For now, HSL are best suited for office environments given the cost and other practical issues.  And speaking of cost, plan on spending about $3,000 per 10,000 square feet illuminated with hybrid solar lights.  You can purchase the lights through Sunlight Direct.

I am amazed at this new technology!  I would love to see hybrid solar lights incorporated into schools and universities, apartment buildings and more.  The sky is not the limit!

Tags: hybrid solar light, solar lighting