Illumination performance and energy saving of a solar fiber optic lighting system

The illumination performance and energy savings of a solar fiber optic lighting system have been verified in a study hall - corridor interior. The system provides intensive white light with a high luminous flux of 4500 lm under 130000 lx direct sun radiation at a 10 m fiber distance from the sun-tracking light collector. The color temperature that describes the light color perceived is 5800 +/- 300 K, i.e. close to the direct sunlight outside, and the color rendering index (86), that describes how well colors are rendered under the light source, is higher for the solar lights than for the supplementary fluorescent lights (77). Thus this high quality solar lighting improves the visibility of all kinds of objects compared to the fluorescent lights. Annual lighting energy savings of 19% in Uppsala, Sweden and 46% in southern Europe were estimated for a study hall interior, as well as 27% and 55% respectively in an interior illuminated 16 h per day all days of a year. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America