Skylight Sunlight Redirector with Prismatic Ridges
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Solution Overview
Problem
Skylights face challenges in controlling illuminance due to varying sunlight incident angles throughout the day and seasons, leading to reduced irradiance at low angles and strong 'hot spots' at high angles, affecting visual comfort and energy efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A light transmitting body with ridges, grooves, and prisms is designed to redirect sunlight, featuring a center and periphery with varying cross-sections, allowing for arcuate ridges and non-parallel grooves and prisms that adjust sunlight angles, redirecting low-angle sunlight away and high-angle sunlight towards the center.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a typical skylight structure is used without redirectors, then sunlight transmission is simple and device complexity is low, but illuminance control is poor and hot spots occur at high incident angles
Solution Approach 1:
A light transmitting body with refractive elements (ridges, grooves, and/or prisms) is introduced as an intermediary component between the rooftop element and the interior opening. This mediator redirects sunlight at different incident angles to control illuminance distribution, preventing hot spots while maintaining uniform lighting throughout the day.
Solution Approach 2:
The light transmitting body changes the optical parameters of sunlight by utilizing refraction and reflection principles. The ridges, grooves, and/or prisms alter the path of light rays based on incident angle, transforming direct sunlight into redirected beams that achieve uniform illuminance distribution across the interior space.
2Illumination intensity
If the skylight structure remains simple without redirectors, then manufacturing is easier and ease of manufacture is high, but sunlight distribution control and visual comfort are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The light transmitting body is segmented into multiple functional zones with ridges, grooves, and/or prisms positioned at specific locations and orientations. Each segment handles specific incident angle ranges, allowing the structure to control sunlight distribution from different parts of the sky arc throughout the day and seasons.
Solution Approach 2:
The ridges, grooves, and/or prisms are configured with asymmetric geometries and orientations optimized for different sunlight incident angles. This asymmetric design enables effective redirection of both low-angle morning/evening sun and high-angle midday sun, adapting to the varying solar path throughout the day and seasonal changes.
3Illumination intensity
If low incident angle sunlight is allowed to pass through directly, then device complexity is low, but irradiance is reduced due to multiple reflections and visual comfort deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The light transmitting body acts as an intermediary that captures low incident angle sunlight and redirects it toward the interior opening. By positioning refractive elements at optimal angles, the system reduces the number of internal reflections that would otherwise diminish irradiance, delivering brighter and more comfortable lighting during early morning and late afternoon hours.
4Illumination intensity
If high incident angle sunlight passes through the skylight structure, then device complexity is low, but illuminance becomes too strong causing hot spots and visual comfort is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The light transmitting body modifies the optical parameters of high incident angle sunlight through refraction and reflection. The ridges, grooves, and/or prisms redirect these high-angle rays to reduce their intensity and prevent hot spot formation, while still allowing sufficient illuminance to reach the interior space for comfortable lighting.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively controls sunlight distribution, reducing reflections and intensity variations, enhancing visual comfort and energy efficiency by optimizing illuminance levels throughout the day and seasons.
Implementation Method 1
A light transmitting body may include an equatorial side and an opposing polar side. The polar side may be non-refractive in some arrangements.
Implementation Method 2
the sunlight at a low incident angle tends to be reflected several times within the skylight structure
Data Source
AI summary
A skylight sunlight redirector is provided with ridges, grooves, and/or prisms that control light transmitted through the redirector as incident sunlight angle changes throughout the day.