BeanAnimal
Premium Member
sounds intersting and reality are two different things 
fiber optic lighting-free light?
- Thread starter boxfishpooalot
- Start date
BruiseAndy
New member
Surprised you didnt tell him to put a luminarc on the fiber cables bean 
. Wonder what the startup costs vs payoff timeline would be. What if its cloudy for a week or so? That far away from the equator I would wonder how well this will work, of course you could always use an indoor light sensor wired to a timer to bring on supplemental light.
. Wonder what the startup costs vs payoff timeline would be. What if its cloudy for a week or so? That far away from the equator I would wonder how well this will work, of course you could always use an indoor light sensor wired to a timer to bring on supplemental light.BeanAnimal
Premium Member
There is a reason that we all don't have cielings full of fiber and little collectors on our roofs. Trust me, it is not a grand conspiracy by the lightbulb and oil companies.
Trust me, it is not a grand conspiracy by the lightbulb and oil companies.
tkeracer619
New member
Re: fiber optic lighting-free light?
:lol: yup
I think its a great idea but you are definitly going to need a lens to collect the light and a lot more than $200
:lol: yup
I think its a great idea but you are definitly going to need a lens to collect the light and a lot more than $200
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
It is either GLASS or PLASTIC. It melted just like a bug would melt if you put a magnifying glass on it
lakee911
New member
Here's an alternative. http://www.lightpipe.org.uk/
Solar tracking device that I've spec'd for photovoltaic projects. http://www.emarineinc.com/products/mounts/tracker.html
Solar tracking device that I've spec'd for photovoltaic projects. http://www.emarineinc.com/products/mounts/tracker.html
denverhoss
Premium Member
If you plan to use standard communications type fiber remember that of the jacketed fiber that you see, the light only travels in a 7-65 micron central core. That's really tiny! Most of what you see with your unaided eye is the jacket, coating, cladding, and other stuff. They also have a fairly small acceptance cone, so the average magnifier lens may not be able to inject all the light it collects. Also, over long ranges fiber tends to loose the bluer frequencies first due to scattering (why the sky is blue) so I wouldn't assume that you will get the original spectrum back at the other end. I think you're best off with a Solartube or Lightpipe type of hollow tube, but it makes a bigger hole in your roof and ceilings!
|233F gee|<
Member
adding my two cents
adding my two cents
I think he should follow the same path we do with all other DIY projects, many are knock offs and one up's on exsisting models.
why not try to copy this item
http://www.sunlight-direct.com
and or improve upon it for cheap and aquairum use.
cheers
David
adding my two cents
I think he should follow the same path we do with all other DIY projects, many are knock offs and one up's on exsisting models.
why not try to copy this item
http://www.sunlight-direct.com
and or improve upon it for cheap and aquairum use.
cheers
David
Last edited:
just installed a solur tube
just installed a solur tube
I have also had the idea of trying to save money by using the sun.
after some time deciding what size tube to put on my 90 corner reef/clam tank , I ended up deciding on a 14",
the 14" covers almost the hole top of the tank and I still am not happy on how much light I am getting in to the tank,
the big problem I am finding is you need to get every bit of light that is coming out of the tube to go in to the tank.
this weekend I am going to make a custom hood that will not let any light escape from the hole in the ceiling to the tank and hope that will give me all the light I need, at the moment only half on my soft corals are opening and it has been three days with out MH.
I will keep a eye on your thread I would like to see the difference with fiber optics. I still have a eel tank I want to put something on.
just installed a solur tube
I have also had the idea of trying to save money by using the sun.
after some time deciding what size tube to put on my 90 corner reef/clam tank , I ended up deciding on a 14",
the 14" covers almost the hole top of the tank and I still am not happy on how much light I am getting in to the tank,
the big problem I am finding is you need to get every bit of light that is coming out of the tube to go in to the tank.
this weekend I am going to make a custom hood that will not let any light escape from the hole in the ceiling to the tank and hope that will give me all the light I need, at the moment only half on my soft corals are opening and it has been three days with out MH.
I will keep a eye on your thread I would like to see the difference with fiber optics. I still have a eel tank I want to put something on.
stugray
Premium Member
Here's just a quick calculation:
Sunlight produces approximately 1200 Watts per square meter at the earth's surface @ noon ( minus any clouds or trees in the way ). The power drops off with the Cosine of the sun's angle for solar panels that dont track, but if you track you can stay close to that # except when the sun is near the horizon.
Lets say you made a big reflector that that was 1 sq meter ( 10 sq feet ) and the collector is a dish. This means the dish needs to be ~40" in diameter and a parabolic shape.
The reflector would focus the light to another reflector that shines it back down the boresight of the primary mirror through a hole ( this is essentially a Cassegrain telescope ).
Now you will have ~1000 watts of light shining on a few square inch patch of collecting area. put your few thousand bare fibers in this area, and maybe you can get 500 watts out the other end assuming minimum bend radius and reasonable length ( 50 feet ).
This is all feasible, and I even contemplated it, but one problem that no-one pointed out above is that you would need to make the dish sturdier than heck to withstand wind, rain, and filling with snow.
The other points brought up above are all surmountable: tracking with motors, use glass instead of plastic to keep the fibers from melting, getting quality fibers ( unclad ).
I think just the primary reflector strong enough to last a year in colorado weather would cost $1000.
Stu
Sunlight produces approximately 1200 Watts per square meter at the earth's surface @ noon ( minus any clouds or trees in the way ). The power drops off with the Cosine of the sun's angle for solar panels that dont track, but if you track you can stay close to that # except when the sun is near the horizon.
Lets say you made a big reflector that that was 1 sq meter ( 10 sq feet ) and the collector is a dish. This means the dish needs to be ~40" in diameter and a parabolic shape.
The reflector would focus the light to another reflector that shines it back down the boresight of the primary mirror through a hole ( this is essentially a Cassegrain telescope ).
Now you will have ~1000 watts of light shining on a few square inch patch of collecting area. put your few thousand bare fibers in this area, and maybe you can get 500 watts out the other end assuming minimum bend radius and reasonable length ( 50 feet ).
This is all feasible, and I even contemplated it, but one problem that no-one pointed out above is that you would need to make the dish sturdier than heck to withstand wind, rain, and filling with snow.
The other points brought up above are all surmountable: tracking with motors, use glass instead of plastic to keep the fibers from melting, getting quality fibers ( unclad ).
I think just the primary reflector strong enough to last a year in colorado weather would cost $1000.
Stu
