I wonder when the research is going to be done with fiberoptic light amplification and dispersion. There is so much potential in it. Have a few wires that you can barely see collecting light during the day... Then have a secondary system for at night, turn on 1 really bright set of lights and have them dispersed across the house.

I love how ingenious this is... Basically he is doing a fiberoptic transference of the light... now America or China needs to get some scientists on this... theres no telling where fiberoptics and solar panels can take us

I really don't see anything in that invention beyond a simple skylight, and not optimal at that. It doesn't seem easy to keep the roof watertight once you drilled these pretty substantial wholes. Besides, if not properly fixed (which doesn't seem easy either) it's an accident hazard.

I'm just thinking this isn't very ground breaking. Electricty is more expensive in large cities with apartments complexes that don't have access to a sunlit roof. Instead I would be more interested in a lightbulb that self generates it's own power.

looks interesting I will be reading this later

I guess something of this nature might have its uses or even be expanded on somehow, depending on how far such light might travel through a tube.

you might be even able to add food coloring to the water and voila, instant disco lights or psychedelic colors shining through your room to brighten things up.

Why does the guy in the video get 50 watts of output? If it was purely refracted light, he shouldn't be able to get a 50-watts-reading.

[edit on 4-11-2009 by Nichiren]

What a great idea. This might not be the perfect answer for conventionally built homes but when/if you are living without electricity it could make all the difference. These people used what they had & were happy with the results. Not everyone can afford skylights or extra windows. I don't think steel roofs will support skylights without additional framing. It could get expensive. Even the tube style would have to be ordered & shipped in a remote area this could be a pain. The bottles worked great they could be shoved in tight add a bead of caulk & no leak. The bleach keeps them clear.

I have always told my husband it's important to know how to live simply regardless of income. Comfortable living without the basics is possible if you know a few tricks. I'll file this one away just in case.

way to think out of the box

a great idea and a great thread

only downside is what to do on cloudy days and nights

its a great step in the right direction though

Originally posted by AngelHeart
I'm just thinking this isn't very ground breaking. Electricty is more expensive in large cities with apartments complexes that don't have access to a sunlit roof. Instead I would be more interested in a lightbulb that self generates it's own power.

why dont you go ahead and make one then

of course (like i said in my post on page two) hooking a fiber optic line to it to carry the light to where is needed WOULD work. then you just branch off the lines from the roof to the prism in the room. BAM light in a sky scraper.

awesome you can come up with a self powering lightbuld, but not think about current tech thats cheap and available.

This is great for poor people who drink a lot of pop, have no windows, thin roofs and live in tropical climates!

awesome!

leaves me out though. lol

lol@ folks who think these are "powered".

the bleach is to keep the water clean.
the water is plain old water.
the film container won't degrade in sunlight but the bottle cap will.
If the cap is lost, the water evaporates and there is no diffusion of light.

not powered, works only in war climes and only in houses without windows, during the daylight hours.

there is exactly zero money to be made from this idea, but it will save a lot of people money on electricity, specifically those people mentioned in the opening line of this post.

I believe this method also filters out a lot of the infrared in the sunlight resulting in a cooler lighting source with the heat remaining in the water. It probably isn't a practical alternative here except for maybe in garden sheds as it would be rare for an Oz dwelling to have a bare corrugated iron roof with no ceiling. What we do is simply replace a sheet or two of currugated iron with transparent corrugated plastic which come in clear or a variety of tints and shades which lets the light in without the UV.

Skylights to suit our standard home construction typically cost around $300-$500 and consist of an all-weather domed exterior polycarbonate window (hail-proof), a large flexible reflective tube and an interior translucent perspex window mounted on the plaster ceiling with a fancy trim to make it look classy. The whole tube has to be bug-proof so you don't get any pests living inside it.

[edit on 4/11/2009 by Pilgrum]