Solar Lighting
Most household areas get more than enough natural light coming through the windows, so if you’re thinking about solar lighting but you’re not ready to invest in a residential solar energy installation yet, don’t forget that lighting the home can be done with the help of sunlight by opening windows and bringing in natural lighting.
Interior solar lighting is rapidly becoming a popular method to add and improve cost-effective lighting. Solar lighting allows for a great deal of design flexibility inside or outside the office or the home. Indoor solar lighting doesn't just mean adding in a few extra commonplace windows and doors.
For your solar lighting needs, you may want to consider using skylights and roof windows not only for solar lighting but as an additional source of ventilation. They can be outfitted with either a manual crank out system or an electric motorized system operated by remote control. Both stylish and functional, skylights add a welcome element to many homes.
Roof windows and skylights are available in many styles to meet your needs and may be equipped with built-in shades or blinds, which offer you the chance to control both the solar lighting and the passive solar heat, which could be a very welcome addition during winter in order to reduce heating costs, but which would definitely not be welcome on a very hot summer day.
Solar lighting can be brought into your home with the use of a solar tube. This method channels the light from the sun through a small roof mounted dome lens through a tube lined with reflective material to what would appear to be a typical ceiling mounted light fixture that can be equipped with a diffuser allowing you to control the amount of light in the room.
Solar tubes offer tremendous flexibility as they can be installed with much less difficulty and structural modifications than a skylight. They are also reputed to control, if not eliminate passive solar heat much better than a traditional skylight.
Solar tubes can be used in both the roof level rooms and rooms on the floor below provided you have adequate closet or wall space that the reflective tubes can be routed through to reach the ceiling of the lower floor. They can be run through the home at a slight angle with minimal light reduction.