Simple genius

I came across this article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23536914

I foresee a project. My garden shed is tiny enough such that I don't really need any light in there during the day, as the one window plus the door being open is enough, but its still a good candidate for an experiment.

I might even try some in the west facing windows of my house (on the landing and in the hallway). It might brighten the place up a bit if it works well.

 

Good idea Clueless, but the inventor lives in Brazil where the sun shines almost permanently. I can't see the idea going down very well here in Blighty.

 

Indeed this is true, and reading the article, it seems it is successful in a list of other countries that have similarly intense sunshine. However I think the value of it is that unlike, say, a skylight or conventional light well that lets sunshine in in just the angle of rays that fit through, this trick seems to be about focusing then refracting the light to radiate in a wide angle. So if I understand correctly, its like having an opening in the ceiling that is considerably wider than the cross section of the bottle.

The other thing I like about it is I expect it would be so energy efficient in terms of insulation against heat loss from inside. It takes a lot of energy to heat water, making it an excellent insulator. Also this would be warming gently in the sunshine during the day and some of that heat (albeit a small amount) would radiate back out into the room at night.

Finally, I also like it because its so cheap and simple that it allows for low cost/low effort experimentation. I reckon I'll be cutting a hole in my shed roof at some point soon