IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i14p11044-d1194223.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysis and Comparison of Daylighting Technologies: Light Pipe, Optical Fiber, and Heliostat

Author

Listed:
  • Jifeng Song

    (Institute of Energy Power Innovation, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China)

  • Bizuayehu Bogale Dessie

    (School of New Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China)

  • Longyu Gao

    (School of New Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China)

Abstract

This article analyzes and compares three daylighting technologies: light pipes, optical fibers, and heliostats. This work aims to evaluate their efficiency, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness in providing natural light to indoor spaces. The analysis includes a review of the principles behind each technology, the design and development of the prototypes and experiments carried out by our research team, their advantages and disadvantages, and their applications in different settings. The comparison is based on several criteria, such as installation, cost, efficiency, output spectrum, and hybrid system. The results indicate that each technology has its unique features and is suited to specific applications. Light pipes are effective for short distances, and they can be easily integrated into existing buildings. Optical fibers are suitable for long distances and offer flexibility in design, but they require more maintenance. Heliostats are ideal for large spaces, but they are expensive to install and operate. Overall, this study provides valuable insight into the strengths and weaknesses of three daylighting technologies and helps designers and architects make informed decisions when selecting the most appropriate solution for future work.

Suggested Citation

  • Jifeng Song & Bizuayehu Bogale Dessie & Longyu Gao, 2023. "Analysis and Comparison of Daylighting Technologies: Light Pipe, Optical Fiber, and Heliostat," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-30, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:11044-:d:1194223
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/11044/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/14/11044/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Muhammad Arkam C. Munaaim & Karam M. Al-Obaidi & Mohd Rodzi Ismail & Abdul Malek Abdul Rahman, 2014. "Empirical Evaluation of the Effect of Heat Gain from Fiber Optic Daylighting System on Tropical Building Interiors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(12), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Song, Jifeng & Luo, Geng & Li, Lei & Tong, Kai & Yang, Yongping & Zhao, Jin, 2018. "Application of heliostat in interior sunlight illumination for large buildings," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 19-27.
    3. Freewan, Ahmed A. & Shao, Li & Riffat, Saffa, 2009. "Interactions between louvers and ceiling geometry for maximum daylighting performance," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 223-232.
    4. Kim, Yeongmin & Jeong, Hae Jun & Kim, Wonsik & Chun, Wongee & Han, Hyun Joo & Lim, Sang Hoon, 2017. "A comparative performance analysis on daylighting for two different types of solar concentrators: Dish vs. Fresnel lens," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 449-456.
    5. Wei, Xiudong & Lu, Zhenwu & Yu, Weixing & Zhang, Hongxin & Wang, Zhifeng, 2011. "Tracking and ray tracing equations for the target-aligned heliostat for solar tower power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 2687-2693.
    6. Mashaly, Islam A. & Nassar, Khaled & El-Henawy, Sally I. & Mohamed, Mohamed W.N. & Galal, Ola & Darwish, Ali & Hassan, Osama N. & Safwat, Amr M.E., 2017. "A prismatic daylight redirecting fenestration system for southern skies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 202-212.
    7. Song, Jifeng & Yang, Yongping & Zhu, Yong & Jin, Zhou, 2013. "A high precision tracking system based on a hybrid strategy designed for concentrated sunlight transmission via fibers," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 12-19.
    8. Song, Jifeng & Wu, Zhaoxuan & Wang, Juntao & Zhang, Kexin & Wang, Kai & Liu, Kunhao & Duan, Liqiang & Hou, Hongjuan, 2021. "Application of highly concentrated sunlight transmission and daylighting indoor via plastic optical fibers with comprehensive cooling approaches," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1391-1404.
    9. Garcia-Hansen, V & Esteves, A & Pattini, A, 2002. "Passive solar systems for heating, daylighting and ventilation for rooms without an equator-facing facade," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 91-111.
    10. Han, Hyunjoo & Tai Kim, Jeong, 2010. "Application of high-density daylight for indoor illumination," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 2654-2666.
    11. Chong, Kok-Keong & Onubogu, Nneka Obianuju & Yew, Tiong-Keat & Wong, Chee-Woon & Tan, Woei-Chong, 2017. "Design and construction of active daylighting system using two-stage non-imaging solar concentrator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 45-60.
    12. Kunhao Liu & Lianglin Zou & Yuanlong Li & Kai Wang & Haiyu Wang & Jifeng Song, 2023. "Measurement and Analysis of Light Leakage in Plastic Optical Fiber Daylighting System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, February.
    13. Allen Jong-Woei Whang & Tsai-Hsien Yang & Zhong-Hao Deng & Yi-Yung Chen & Wei-Chieh Tseng & Chun-Han Chou, 2019. "A Review of Daylighting System: For Prototype Systems Performance and Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-34, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Theodora Mavridou & Nikolaos Nanos & Lambros Doulos, 2023. "Modular Construction of Industrial Buildings and Lean Thinking—Identifying the Role of Daylight through a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-15, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kunhao Liu & Lianglin Zou & Yuanlong Li & Kai Wang & Haiyu Wang & Jifeng Song, 2023. "Measurement and Analysis of Light Leakage in Plastic Optical Fiber Daylighting System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Sreelakshmi, Kavuthimadathil & Ramamurthy, K., 2022. "Review on fibre-optic-based daylight enhancement systems in buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Allen Jong-Woei Whang & Tsai-Hsien Yang & Zhong-Hao Deng & Yi-Yung Chen & Wei-Chieh Tseng & Chun-Han Chou, 2019. "A Review of Daylighting System: For Prototype Systems Performance and Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-34, July.
    4. Xia, Longyu & Wei, Gaosheng & Wang, Gang & Cui, Liu & Du, Xiaoze, 2023. "Research on combined solar fiber lighting and photovoltaic power generation system based on the spectral splitting technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    5. Song, Jifeng & Wu, Zhaoxuan & Wang, Juntao & Zhang, Kexin & Wang, Kai & Liu, Kunhao & Duan, Liqiang & Hou, Hongjuan, 2021. "Application of highly concentrated sunlight transmission and daylighting indoor via plastic optical fibers with comprehensive cooling approaches," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1391-1404.
    6. Barbón, A. & Sánchez-Rodríguez, J.A. & Bayón, L. & Barbón, N., 2018. "Development of a fiber daylighting system based on a small scale linear Fresnel reflector: Theoretical elements," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 733-745.
    7. Wu, Shaobing & Wang, Changmei & Tang, Runsheng, 2022. "Optical efficiency and performance optimization of a two-stage secondary reflection hyperbolic solar concentrator using machine learning," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 437-449.
    8. Xuan, Qingdong & Li, Guiqiang & Lu, Yashun & Zhao, Bin & Zhao, Xudong & Pei, Gang, 2019. "The design, construction and experimental characterization of a novel concentrating photovoltaic/daylighting window for green building roof," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 1138-1152.
    9. Bushra, Nayab & Hartmann, Timo, 2019. "A review of state-of-the-art reflective two-stage solar concentrators: Technology categorization and research trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Irfan Ullah & Allen Jong-Woei Whang, 2015. "Development of Optical Fiber-Based Daylighting System and Its Comparison," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-17, July.
    11. Xuan, Qingdong & Li, Guiqiang & Lu, Yashun & Zhao, Bin & Wang, Fuqiang & Pei, Gang, 2021. "Daylighting utilization and uniformity comparison for a concentrator-photovoltaic window in energy saving application on the building," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    12. Stevanović, Sanja, 2013. "Optimization of passive solar design strategies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 177-196.
    13. Rodríguez-Sánchez, M.R. & Leray, C. & Toutant, A. & Ferriere, A. & Olalde, G., 2019. "Development of a new method to estimate the incident solar flux on central receivers from deteriorated heliostats," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 182-190.
    14. Rakha, Tarek & Nassar, Khaled, 2011. "Genetic algorithms for ceiling form optimization in response to daylight levels," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 2348-2356.
    15. Wang, Kun & He, Ya-Ling & Xue, Xiao-Dai & Du, Bao-Cun, 2017. "Multi-objective optimization of the aiming strategy for the solar power tower with a cavity receiver by using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 399-416.
    16. Antonio Peña-García & Ferdinando Salata & Iacopo Golasi, 2019. "Decrease of the Maximum Speed in Highway Tunnels as a Measure to Foster Energy Savings and Sustainability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-11, February.
    17. Morrissey, J. & Moore, T. & Horne, R.E., 2011. "Affordable passive solar design in a temperate climate: An experiment in residential building orientation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 568-577.
    18. Monghasemi, Nima & Vadiee, Amir, 2018. "A review of solar chimney integrated systems for space heating and cooling application," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2714-2730.
    19. Carlo Renno, 2021. "Experimental Comparison between Spherical and Refractive Optics in a Concentrating Photovoltaic System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    20. Li, Jianhui & Zhang, Wei & He, Bo & Xie, Lingzhi & Hao, Xia & Mallick, Tapas & Shanks, Katie & Chen, Mo & Li, Zihao, 2021. "Experimental study on the comprehensive performance of building curtain wall integrated compound parabolic concentrating photovoltaic," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:14:p:11044-:d:1194223. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.