For the people who cant wrap there heads around the use for this idea.....imagine how much power would be saved if people like myself who have rooms that receive little or no sunlight (like my bathroom) didnt have to switch on a light during the day.

I love the idea... if i wasn't renting i would do this especially in my garage.
Thanks OP S+F

[edit on 4/11/2009 by SvenTheBerserK]

forgive me if i'm wrong but i believe one of the guys in the video said that the lights are on in the morning and shut themselves off at midnight, and the old lady in her bathroom says everything works fine even when it rains, so those things must work for a little while even after sunset no? unless sunsest in brazil is at midnight. that or the translation is not perfect.

I suppose you could use pure alcohol in climates that might have freezing weather. Building code might not allow this here in US. Maybe a nice old fashioned skylight or suntube would work.

[edit on 4-11-2009 by A52FWY]

I read this thread and the other thread and I can't believe people talking about hoax, or it only works in the day, and that it's just sunlight. I think that was pretty obvious and was besides the point.

What is so great about it is making do with common things around them. The person did it after they had lost electricity. In order to get light in his shop.

It does more than putting a hole in your roof and letting light shine in because the water hanging down amplifies it. All that light is hitting the water and reflecting all around the room. The result is that rather than light shinning in 1 spot, it fills the room in entire directions.

I doubt people are going to start going out and drilling holes in their roofs and plugging them with 2 liter bottles. But the concept does open up a line of thought on useful ways of making use of existing and free resources.

I wonder how far down will the light travel in the water like that. It would be very cool and save alot of energy if you could put that kind of thing into muliti floor business offices. Not sure how far the light would travel though, it would need to be quite a bit. You would still need regular lights for night time etc, but as most offices work in the day it would save alot of energy.

But even in single floor factories it would save a good bit of energy as well. Obviously they won't be doing 2 liter bottles, but someone could design something on the concept. If rainy and stormy days are a problem and don't give enough light, you can increase the amount of lights, so that there is enough light in the storms, and then use a lens like they have on welding helmets for filters that darken when light hits them to regulate the same amount of light no matter the weather.

Great thinking and good concept IMO.

Solar Powered Lights!

Genius

Hehe, but I do see the benefit of them for sheds and workshops where halogen lights are used and it would be an ideal way to keep brightness in any area you setup if tshtf.

A bucket of water does not glow when you put clorox in it to scrub floors......why would it work any different in a bottle. There are so many of these hoaxes on the internet now. Is this what ABOVE "TOP SECRET" has been reduced to??????? METACAFE??????

great stuff but it's already been covered. Mods?

so basically what I got is he is chlorinating his water (to kill/prevent growth I presume) and using the bottle of water as a low tech diffuser for a skylight. . You know, not exactly groundbreaking but a definitely fine display of human ingenuity in a pinch. For places that get a lot of light, that actually seems like a pretty good idea on a budget.

yes, there are better and more efficient solutions, but for the money? Can't really beat it.

Very cool, looks like something I'm going to have to try sometime soon. Looks very easy to create/use while still maintaining a decent quality light.

That is really neat. I bet that would work well as a daytime light source for underground storm shelters too.

[edit on 4-11-2009 by gazerstar]

OMG people are soooo dense!

of course it doesnt work at night!

the point is not using the power during the day!

its a great idea for saving money during the day!

at night, you turn your lights on, but guess what, ITS ONLY AT NIGHT OR RAINY DAYS!

only a helpful tip, you could probably rig up a fiberoptic line to it

So this method is useless at nighttime when light is needed the most, yes?