Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/04/lights_made_from_water_bottles.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

I came across this today. With the natural sunlight channeled inside, it seems like an interesting solution for indoor systems. And it's a lot cheaper than prefab solar tubes

That was great. Can't believe the amount of light.
That's receycling for you.

thanks tamo...

that was awesome..

OMG, that was cool, but FAST so hard to read AND see. Were those ppl speaking at 100mph, was the tape sped up or the subtitles too big with not enough text?? I had to watch it twice, but it's very interesting. A bit hard to turn off to watch a movie in the middle of the day though. But how efficient!

Okay for the back shed. Glass tubes would last a lot longer.

it's the 'free' bit here that is most effective
they're pretty much skylights, but the water focuses the light somewhat, making them more size efficient.-

Kuda, they were Brazilians speaking Portuguese. That's how they all talk .

I've been thinking about it in the back of my head. What I think happens is that the bleach molecules remain suspended in the water and scatter the light very evenly, so they appear to glow.

I'd disagree that glass would be more durable. True, glass might have a slightly higher transmission of light, but the plastic bottles will not degrade and are flexible and light.

And again... free or close to it.

I don't know about plastic, but glass certain reduces light.
Funny thing is, if you're right and the bleach helps light transmission, the bleach was probably added cos his first attempt grew heaps of algae.
Don't you love it when good stuff happens for the wrong reasons?

Sun will make them brittle over time. Was not knocking them just thought if you want to go through more of the ceiling you need a longer tube. The bottles only go through the top layer(tin). And having a larger area above the tin might collect more light.

Duff, You're probably right that they will become brittle over time. But we're probably talking several years at least.

You're definitely right that they won't go through much more than a few inches of roof. If you have to also transverse an attic space, you'd need a tube of some kind. Maybe a collection bottle through the roof, then a highly reflective column tube, and then another tube/bottle in the ceiling of the room that actually needs the light.

the bleach is used as a diffuser, plain water is useless

Very cool idea....

Wow! Cool idea

Anyone any idea how they are fixed in the roof?

From the video, it looks like they are cemented in place.