FULL DIY TUTORIAL Sunlight collector using optical fibers

A Sun collector has a fire hazard risk: the sun is a powerful source of energy, using a magnifier is enough to start a fire, so be cautious if you want to do this project and never let a collector alone, always have a look at it.
My first English video! I'm French so you might notice that I speak with an accent !
Like and share, questions me in comments if needed, happy to help!!
3DIY Captain
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[@juezna]

I can imagine 3D printing could make this whole process much more optimized

[@3DIYCaptain]

I agree at 100% with you

[@swatichaudhari480]

I can't believe ..I was wondering if this is possible and your video confirmed it..

[@damienfernando5753]

having good interest and lots of questions too... great job friend. thank you for sharing such important basics of fiber optical work. thank you so much again.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi Damien ! Thank you for your comment. I’ll try to answer to your questions ;)

[@Bharat.1st.]

Thank you for creating this content, perhaps the only one on KZbin so far. I had come across a brilliant use of such a system for the first and the last time till now about 16 years ago in Matri Mandir, a temple devoted to Sri Aurobindo and Mother Mirra located in Auroville in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India.

[@avinashugale7504]

Great. I was thinking from some days to overcome the problem of lack of sunlight in big building's. And I got this ideas . And your video confirm this..

[@harrymills2770]

Yes. And homes that are built into and partly under the ground. I would like something lower-profile/stealth that's more distributed collection than most of the designs you see.

[@WeTheJourney]

Amazing!! Thanks for sharing it, your description is great! 😉

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you for your comment :)

[@prepperbr]

thank you man, cheers from Brazil

[@computoys]

Congratulations... I will make this project for light in dark rooms!! Thanks!!!

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank you, good idea to use it for a dark room. How far is your dark room from the place you intend to collect the sun?

[@davisburnside9609]

That's so smart, thanks for demonstrating that!

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you for your comment :)

[@SapphosSails]

Awesome idea! I want to try this on a larger scale similar to deck prisims to get more natural light below deck on a sailboat! Getting natural light below deck without weakening the hull is hard but I think something like this could work!

[@whatsdrugs]

Thank you! I've been looking for a video on this.

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank you very much for your comment :)

[@dhavaldesai53]

Pls give you a ready 19 pics

[@HedianRacingTeam]

Awesome video

[@perfectpropertiesbynaeemra6601]

Very good, keep making more.

[@CaineKnight]

Good work! Thanks for sharing the information..

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank you very much :)

[@Samantha-sy7ww]

YESSSSS!!! I LOVE THIS!!!

[@TheAvidflier]

fantastic - impressive - I will try and use this idea

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you :) please don’t hesitate to share ;)

[@geodeaholicm4889]

very clever & well described

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you very much :)

[@ntejos]

Nice video! Thanks.

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank you :)

[@sciencegaltise5839]

Great work brother

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thanks

[@nithishkumarr2586]

Very nice concept 👌

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you very much :)

[@lisakingscott7729]

I found this because I want to do the same thing. Great vid!. Looks as though 3D printed parts would make this much easier to make.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Yes yes yes !!! 3D printing is a solution :)

[@sambaiahgande]

Where can i get the matterial

[@LotusDreaming]

This is really cool, thanks for the video!

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you :)

[@vigamortezadventures7972]

Awesome stuff my guy I want to adapt this and make a sun room for solar panels

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you for your comment! Let me know if I can help ;)

[@Greenr0]

Amazing information. Thank you.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you

[@plumsmuglers]

Excellent

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thanks :)

[@LeAbstracted]

Thank you friend!

[@dajo1214]

Fantastic! Thanks for this video. I would love to make one myself, however, the fire hazard makes me anxious, since my purpose is to leave it unattended.

[@dajo1214]

Where did you buy the lenses?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you very much for your comment. As you saw, the fire hazard is the main issue, but using small lenses should avoid it... it should, that's why for the first tests I'm always near to be sure nothing bad happen. Please subscribe to my channel, I'm 3D printing a new version and the video will be there soon :)

[@3DIYCaptain]

found them on ebay using these key words like : "5pcs/lot High Power LED lens 23mm convex lens optical glass led lens for DIY" you can found 5 pieces for less around 2$

[@simonlinser8286]

they should put these into sheds and other storage rooms that are dark.. even better for plants though. great video! thanks.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you :)

[@travispoulin252]

The Philippines have been using a make shift version to light up their shacks without electricity. They fill a soda bottle with water and bleach and cut a hole in their roof and place it halfway in and out. It works surprising well to light up their windowless shacks during the day. And when combined with a cheap solar charged, battery powered led like what's in a cheap outdoor pathway light stake, they can have some light at night as well.

[@SimonSozzi7258]

So cool 😎

[@Alatinu]

¡ Excellent thankyou vm !. I' try to do it !. I want ti use it to homemade alarm that lighting a LDR. The alarm active when the light is off between Emisor an receptor. ¡ You area genious. Health for you and yours !

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you, I hope your project will work

[@nikhatw3811]

thank you so much 🤗💫💥🤗🤗🤗

[@qwertyazerty-vb9md]

Looks ver well done, thanks. Can yu rvide reference for optical fiber and lens ? I did tru to fine fiber but no succes

[@flytrapjohn]

Wonderful thank you.

[@3DIYCaptain]

You’re welcome :)

[@hygiverse]

I watched the video because I am interested in creating jungle biodomes for various climates

[@3DIYCaptain]

Interesting project !

[@dannykicks603]

You should look into pre flood conditions. The vapour canopy.

[@src3360]

I love the French accent ❤

[@3DIYCaptain]

:)

[@unionse7en]

I wonder if one needs to make sure the chosen fibers do not filter out wavelengths that plants need.

[@CallMeFil]

Thank you so much. Was wondering if you have any knowledge or see if there is any kids that you can make DIY quicker from the last 6 years of this video?

[@toothacheforever8437]

is there a way to expand it? Like what if you take the same lense, reverse it on the other end?

[@ahmedneggo903]

thank you for this wonderful DIY video. I appreciate your clear steps and explanation. can u tell how much energy your set up can deliver if u concentrated all the fiber output in one point? i wonder if i can use ur idea to collect and concentrate enough energy to wield/solder or engrave on metal or wood

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thanks to you for your comment and interest in this project. Regarding your question, it's possible, but not easy: you'll need a really good collector to achieve wielding/soldering or engraving. By good I mean: a lot of single collector, or a big one (but it's not easy to work with, you can look on my channel, I made a video with a 25cm one and managed to light a match), perfect injection of light in fibres, also a collector that follows the sun to a constant light, and to find a way to easily manipulate the "hot beam" at the output... so not impossible, but quite tricky to do

[@f7y8u9ugf]

Was planning something like this and luckily came across your videos, thank you very much! I would need to route sunlight from a little more distance. Could one use less fibers (=less total width) to transmit light and then re-distribute it? I mean, to arbitrarily increase light input while using constant fiber to direct it? Thanks!

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank you for your comment, good to know my video can help you :) regarding what you are planning to do, you should get the information about the optical losses of the optical fibers you will use. if you use good optical fibers, you will have like 5dB of losses per km (5dB/km), meaning if you put 10W at the input, after 1 km you will have around 3W. Now, if you use bad fiber like the one I use (for fake starlight sky, PMMA base fibers), they have really higher optical losses, I found one with 200dB/km or even 500dB/km, so again, with 10W in the input, you will have nothing after a km, and not a lot after a couple of meters (the value for 200dB/km is 10W divided by 100000000000000000000, and even worse for 500dB/km optical loss). So if you plan to send light over long distance, use good fibers :) There is also losses regarding the optical coupling, meaning how you will put light in the fiber, as I said in the video, be cautious to adapt the couple lens/fiber to optimize the light you'll be able to propagate. One last point, what do you mean by "arbitrarily increase light"? Let me know if you need more info. You can also look on my channel, I'm working on a 3D printed version of this collector, using good fibers ;)

[@sorooshb007]

Merci beaucoup!!!!

[@3DIYCaptain]

de rien :)

[@collectionofmostpopularasm507]

This solar fiber optic systems that do not track the orientation of the sun. How much the efficiency? Only work in a specific time slot, say for only 30 minutes?

[@mimgazi3588]

Can you give me some advice, I need more big diamiter optic fiver.

[@kayolastna2215]

Does anyone know what is the minimum length required to fully block the UV? If UV cant pass through, I'm assuming just a couple inches or less could work?

[@cidadao400]

Great!

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thanks!

[@nasrinjamil9006]

Please, if I want to put a lens in a room, how can I make the dimensions of the lens suitable for the dimensions of the room

[@rahatahmed9678]

Thank u soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much

[@3DIYCaptain]

you're welcome :) :) :)

[@sidharthroy867]

is it possible? actually i want to use sunlight for theatre

[@karlswanson95]

Very informative. Will try this when time permits. Do the fibers you used transmit most or any of the IR? Had idea for passive radiant cooling using reflective features to guide light into fiber optics. Seems this would make surface cooler and you could use that energy elsewhere.

[@3DIYCaptain]

I hope you will try it too :) the efficiency for a fiber to propagate IR is not the same from one fiber or another. And information regarding the transmission efficiency vs wavelength is not often given. Passive cooling look like a good idea, I wonder how effective it can be, knowing that the core a the fiber is quite small (few micrometers), I guess you need quite a lot of fibers (+ lenses but it limit the injection of light to specific angles...), that's a good project :)

[@lpg914]

This is great stuff! I'm hoping that a single large fresnel lens could be used by decreasing the focal length so that it does not melt the ends of even the silica fiber. I then want to focus the light at the other end of the fiber down to a pen point using another lens. Do you see any complications with this? I also saw that you mentioned an "x, y, and z positioning system." Are you designing a sun tracker for it? Really looking forward to your additional videos.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you very much for your comment :) Well, regarding the melting point it’s a tricky question. Actually, assuming using a silica based fiber and knowing that pure silica melting point is at around 1700°C (1500°C for iron as a comparison) if you reach that temperature on the fiber you’ll have a problem. But I think you’ll need a big lens to get there... and also, be careful, with a fiber, there is often a protective layer (in plastic!!!) that need to be remove before placing the lens at the focal point. Regarding the use of a fresnel lens, as long as you match the numerical aperture of the fiber with the lens property you’re good :) then for the refocusing at the end of the fiber, no problem, but again, you need to choose the optics to not loose too much light (for example: fiber end, convex/Plano lens, Plano/convex lens then where you need to focus) . The x,y,z positioning system is on its way, actually I’m just waiting a good weather window to do the tests/video/experiment. The sun tracker will come later, know the idea is to precisely inject light in the fiber by moving the fiber behind the lens. I hope this will help you. Thank again and stay tuned ;)

[@kil98q]

e vr application would be possible by taking the current light sensitivity and enough photo diodes to filter out other crap to get the xyz accurately

[@kil98q]

Or use that same setup with infrared there would barely be any trash light :P would work well

[@litoboy5]

Great

[@FBPrepping]

Too bad is not a button for "love it". Thanks for sharing brother.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi Jose, thank you very much!

[@jadieorendaromero3993]

Can I do this in a tiny home camper?

[@AuditorsUnited]

put your optical lens in water it disperses like a light?

[@mimgazi3588]

I am searching big diamiter optic fiber, i nedd more light to come in.

[@notperfectbutbetter...7468]

Today i woke up and randomly think, I need free laser power from sun. start searching and find your video. 😃

[@mr702s]

Why not have a ton of fibers behind a culminating lens? Would that be more space efficient but also effective?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Good idea, but good fiber are expensive

[@qamarnavid6169]

I want to know about the UV part. Can the UV is also transmittable through this way if the quartz optical fiber or the fiber which enables to transmit the UV is being used?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi! As long as every components (lenses, fibers) are transparent for UV, you will be able to have UV at the output of the fiber.

[@cocobean503]

Could the fiber optic cable be longer (4m) , to bring light form the roof to a room downstairs?

[@3DIYCaptain]

It's possible but it depends on the optical fiber you're using. If it's one made to propagate visible light, you can send light on km range! but the "plastic" fiber like PMMA, you can't aim for really long distance... if your need is to efficiently bring light in a room, I'd recommend to use a good fiber :)

[@shupesmerga4694]

Input is great but what about the output? How do you disperse the light from ther fiber like a regular light bulb?

[@3DIYCaptain]

For the output, a piece of polished glass can be use to scatter light in all direction

[@deucedeuce1572]

Light can only enter the fiber from the tip/enf and not the side of the fiber?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Yes, not possible from the side to my knowledge

[@reneewong8445]

Hi Im wondering will the collector work if I use biconvex lens instead?

[@3DIYCaptain]

yes, it will work too, I used plano convex lens because it was easier to find and also the flat side is easier to use from a mechanical point of view :)

[@Dubaibling123]

hi im planning to make this for my college project and wanted to ask if i could use a 50 mm lense instead ?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Bigger works, but be careful with heat

[@billburgess4720]

Using these systems, can light be transmitted 12 meters with one 90-degree turn at 8 meters? For transmitting light from a surface to an isolated utility room or bathroom in an apartment?

[@3DIYCaptain]

12m, yes, but using a good optical fiber, not a plastic one like I used, angles are really not good for optical fiber, loosing light at each turn :/ so it’s good to have nice curves and no angles

[@harithamaram1397]

amazing, thanks for sharing this video, i want to buy this product, from ware shall I get this

[@3DIYCaptain]

maybe one day I'll put a DIY solar kit online( hope you will get one :p

[@assemblywizard8]

wouldn't be better to use a big parabolic mirror to concentrate the light to the cable?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Better but heavier and more expensive I think, I would be curious to try with one one day !!

[@tadghsmith1457]

How much light would this let in? I'm thinking of installing this in a 15cm diameter air vent. Would this be enough to illuminate a small shower room?

[@3DIYCaptain]

There is a lot of light of it’s facing the sun, otherwise almost no light. So if there is a sun tracking device it’s ok (it’s my next project !! )

[@GustavoIzurieta]

High Power Led convex lens should be made of glass or plastic?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi!! Well the difference I found mainly is in the price. I prefer glass lens, easier to clean and better light transmission. But to make a big and cheap light collector, plastic is a good choice

[@CedricRoom]

how thick were the fibers its selef? like 1mm diameter ? thanks for your anwser

[@3DIYCaptain]

Yes, it was about 1mm diameter, but really don’t recommend plastic fiber, really bad optics properties but will do the job for a fun project

[@bobsyoureuncle2888]

Did you have issues with excessive heat? I want to do something similar to avoid using a parabolic with a secondary focal lens to eliminate UV and other invisible spectrum. I think coating the back of your lenses with a uv blocker would drop the temp significantly without too much loss of visible spectrum?

[@3DIYCaptain]

I’m using small lens to avoid excessive heat. Also using low cost materiel, I guess a coated lens can be expensive

[@samad7836]

Put an infrared filter it will reduce heat more than uv filter

[@mathiasmaranhao]

Nice videos. Are there more written technical details?

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank you, there is this book : « Fundamentals of Photonics (Wiley Series in Pure and Applied Optics) » 2nd edition, which I think is a really good reference

[@cecilharwell5655]

Have you taken a PAR reading on the from your collector and output?

[@3DIYCaptain]

I don’t have a Par-meter :/ On another collector I measured the difference between input and output lux but not for this one

[@anantha453]

Brother How did calculate how many 2cm diameter cylinder pipes can fitted in the 10cm diameter cylinder pipe?

[@3DIYCaptain]

No calculation, I just put the maximum I was able to :)

[@Cordycep1]

I saw a sun collector on the roof in Tokyo , that transfer filter light to a fiber optic for facial rejuvenation.

[@3DIYCaptain]

I’m curious to know which part of the sun spectrum will rejuvenate my face :) I’ll need a good dose of it

[@Cordycep1]

@@3DIYCaptain that was 1986 -35 years ago. Selling for $30000 usd.

[@dannykicks603]

@@Cordycep1 any links?

[@lzphoi2351]

Hi Captain. regarding fire hazard. could adding a piece of window film block heat from your system ? between sunlight and lens, OR between lens and focal point.

[@3DIYCaptain]

hi! If you're using small lenses it should be ok. In the end, if you have to add something to attenuate the light, small lens diameter is a good compromise

[@lzphoi2351]

Thank you for reply! How about only reduce heat but maintain the sunlight intensity? I see what i could get here, i will try one, yours is very unique and beautiful light outcome! ☺️

[@3DIYCaptain]

@@lzphoi2351 that's is really good idea, I was always thinking about getting the maximum of sunlight injection, but looking for a specific value or ratio of sunlight is even better. I hope to see your collector soon :)

[@lzphoi2351]

@@3DIYCaptain looking forward to watching more inventions from you too ! 😊 p/s : maybe you can name it as lotus seed pod, fish egg, honey bee nest or something like that … 😂

[@testingk410]

Where can I buy this convex plano lens?

[@3DIYCaptain]

I found mine on eBay ! But not easy to find now

[@codyhildebrand13]

Publications we can reference for specific maths?

[@3DIYCaptain]

« Fundamentals of Photonics (Wiley Series in Pure and Applied Optics) » 2nd edition, which I think is a really good reference

[@beast9184]

Does the length decrease the brightness a lot?

[@3DIYCaptain]

hi Beast! yes it will decrease the brightness. The decrease will depend on the quality of your optical fiber, unfortunately the optical loss is not often given (you can ask to a seller the information, they may give you the info)

[@atozet]

When the sun is low solar panels are not taking much energy. Am thinking of using this on a solar panel. will it work?

[@3DIYCaptain]

yes it will work :) I will show it on my next video. Work in progress... Coming soon!

[@atozet]

Aiz3n974 thanks

[@anannop]

I am new to this sunlight collector using optical fiber and want to make it , can you suggest what is the other online resources that I can study more, thanks.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Actually I got the inspiration for this collector from my studies, so I can suggest you to look at teaching related to geometrical optics and waveguides optics (specially optical fibers)... My video was made to give a theoretical overview, so you can really dig deeper on this subject. Looking on wiki will give you a good base for your study :)

[@anannop]

Thanks for your suggestion.

[@Bilangumus]

Can we use this for vertical farming you think ?

[@3DIYCaptain]

the answer is yes, but you'll need to be sure of 2 things: your fibers+lenses propagate the good spectrum of light (for photosynthesis) and using a sun tracking device for the fibers+lenses so the plants have enough light per day. And also, another source of light for cloudy days or winter time

[@raflanz6770]

really great idea! I want to try it, and the fiber is easy enough to find - a 300m roll on amazon goes for €17. but can I ask you where you found the lenses? I can find expensive lenses online, but could not find small (and hopefully inexpensive ones like the one you used).

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you for your comment!!! indeed, 300m for 17€ that's good!!! Look on eBay with this key word: 5pcs/lot High Power LED lens 23mm convex lens optical glass led lens for DIY, 2.5$ for 5pieces

[@raflanz6770]

super! have them ordered, looking forward to trying it! thanks very much - I couldn't find anything searching for it in spanish, searching for it using your text (in ebay.es...) I got a hit right away. Thanks again, brilliant video! :)

[@3DIYCaptain]

you're welcome!! Don't hesitate if you have more questions!! Hopefully you should have more sun in Spain than in France ^^

[@3DIYCaptain]

When you'll received your fiber, make some tests to be sure it's an end glow fiber. I have a 100m side glow, and there is no light at the end, quite frustrating. Also I ordered a higher class of fiber (more expensive, but might worth it), I'll post a video if my other collector works as expected :)

[@raflanz6770]

will do, and will let you know! the fiber already arrived, but the lenses may take weeks to clear customs!

[@sachs8379]

I want to grow plant indoors in a vertical building farm

[@gohhongsheng6552]

Sir, may i know what is the diameter chosen for the optical fibre?

[@3DIYCaptain]

I would not recommend using plastic fiber , for the diameter it depends on the size of your lens and the numerical aperture of the fiber

[@hemantnarayanan1]

Hi.. can I grow indor plants using this light? Pls reply. Thanks 🙏🏻

[@3DIYCaptain]

I think it's possible with a good silica fiber and glass lenses, just my personal opinion, not tested yet

[@stelioskoukli]

From where can I find these lenses?

[@3DIYCaptain]

eBay !!

[@mk9391]

Do you know what PAR levels you are getting out the other end? Or an input to output ratio? that would be nice to know!

[@3DIYCaptain]

unfortunately, I don't have the answer, and measuring the spectrum is not an easy and cheap operation, it would be nice to have a DIY spectrum analyser :). One way I see to check if the light is good for photosynthesis is to make some tests and see how the plants will like the light or not... and make comparison with another plants which are place outside, see if there is a big difference in growing, colors... this can be quite a long experiment :p but very interesting. I was also thinking of growing plants inside a dark place like a closet, it would be a good demonstration of how sun light can be brought anywhere with a low cost solution and (almost) pollution free!!

[@mk9391]

That would really interesting! Great ideas :)

[@enginkirmikil355]

Hi, your idea is awesome, did you get any result for growing plants

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank for your comment :) no result yet... but I putting everything together (slowly... ) and the sun seems to have left the place I'm staying... I'm working on it!!

[@evakantt]

How much you spent in total for this project? Is it possible to use bigger glass? Like 5cm or 10cm diameter?

[@3DIYCaptain]

I spent more time than money, this first one was around 20€. Bigger lens mean higher risk of fire, and is good only of the fiber is adapted, you have to look at numerical aperture of the fiber

[@ineerajbatra]

Thanks for such an informative video on a topic thats difficult to find research on. Does this light carry heat also along? I mean like LED(or any other light source) bulbs produce heat when ON, will the sunlight transported in such a way also heat the area that it lights? How long (far) can the end of the fiber be from the source(beginning) , lets say 10 metres? Will the distance affect light intensity? How much equivalent watts of light is produced lets say compared to a LED light bulb source, 30/50 watts? Thanks much.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Thank you for your comment and so many good questions!! Yes light carry heat also, when I will have a little more time I will do an experiment showing this... I think 10m is still good, actually it strongly depends on the property of your optical fiber... the one I use is very cheap, but I'm quite optimistic regarding what would left after 10m, the distance linearly decreases the amount of power, so it's not a strong decrease of light. Unfortunately I don't have the equipment to measure the power, I will try to find a DIY way to do it. Again thank for the question and your interest

[@3DIYCaptain]

I made some tests with a 100m fiber, but I found out they shipped a side glow fiber, which is really not good for what I wanted to do. So be careful when choosing a fiber... check that's an end glow. Also I ordered a higher class of fiber, I hope it will be really better :p I'll post a video

[@ineerajbatra]

Yes side glow fiber is of no use, as the light will leak out from the sides rather than ends. Thanks for keeping us in loop though. Hope you have a great success soon. All the best.

[@ineerajbatra]

How much the higher class of fiber is costing you? Can you share some details of the fiber, thanks.

[@3DIYCaptain]

It cost me around 30€ for 50m. Found it on ebay it's a silica base fiber, should be better than a plastic one. I will receive the parcel next week :p

[@globeuniversalconstruction4568]

I nedd these optical fibre where can I find.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi! I bought mine on ebay, but PMMA plastic fiber have really high optical losses in general, so I won't recommend them for several meters of fiber. Instead you can use silica base fiber, they usually have low optical losses. Please subscribe on my channel to know when there will be new video :)

[@GustavoIzurieta]

I found D = 20mm and Focal = 28mm ? should be fine with that?

[@3DIYCaptain]

These specifications are also link to the kind of fiber you will use, do you have a fiber already?

[@haiderabbas1832]

Hi, this is awesome, I want this kind of thing for my indoor plants, but I’m worried that this will also bring in the heat, is there any solution for that.. also can I use this to light up any indoor spaces? If so how would one deal with heat issue.. ?

[@3DIYCaptain]

hi, thank you for you comment :) yes there will be heat, but it really depends on the size of the lenses, I think there is more work to do on the subject, but using special fiber that let only visible light propagate is a solution, or using filter to cut infrared light. I think the best solution is use some light, a sun collector is like a small window that you can bring anywhere

[@haiderabbas1832]

@@3DIYCaptain won’t the heat melt the fiber itself? Thanks for the prompt reply I wasn’t expecting this

[@3DIYCaptain]

@@haiderabbas1832 Hi! plastic fiber might melt easily but silica fiber have a really high melting point, if you look on my channel there is a big fresnel lens that inject light in a silica based fiber, it dit not melt

[@wesleyp3024]

well in order to save space and time why not make a double lens system so you would use a giant first lens (D) to focus down a bunch of light, then use another lens, a smaller one to refocus it again to be small enough to fit perfectly into the optic fiber? then you dont have to use 20-100 small lenses to collect enough sunlight to light up an indoor grow. then you use 5-10 large lenses, 5-10 small lenses and 5-10 fibers. not only is that easier to setup but its material efficient. the only thing is you might also need a double lens system to expand the light back out on the other side (indoors) and such a system would have enough energy moving through a fiber to quite easily burn or melt anything it shines on. (very condensed light)

[@3DIYCaptain]

That’s an interesting idea but I wonder what will be the impact for the light coming from the big lens to the small lenses in term of optical geometry

[@llewellynhattingh3496]

Awesome Video! Genius Idea. I would very much like to contact you via mail. I have some questions. Thank you for doing the video in english!

[@3DIYCaptain]

thank you very much :) :) don't hesitate for your questions!!

[@GrowsDrummer]

Hello, thanks for the nice video. Do you think this light transport could also be used for plants to grow?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi! Thank you for your comment. It will depends on the kind of fiber you will use. A fiber act like a filter: some will let more UV than IR light propagate for example. So you need to know these kind of spectral properties. Now I’m using a WF fiber, more expensive but it’s spectral response is quite good from visible to near infrared. I hope to make future tests with plants to see what happen :) only experience will give a good answer ;)

[@GrowsDrummer]

​@@3DIYCaptain Sounds amazing. I recently saw many greenhous concept videos and they all do the lights with LEDs what causes energy. What if you could transport the light from the outside instad, and only compensate with LED when the weather is bad or in short winter days.

[@3DIYCaptain]

Yes ! That’s what I’m aiming (well more as a personal challenge). There is a big hurdle : how to continuously inject light with a moving sun, there are star trackers, but I would like to do a low cost/solar powered one. The road is long but I hope to get there (not easy when you have to work on the side :p )

[@GrowsDrummer]

@@3DIYCaptain Mount it on a sunflower. xD I am very sure there must be a solution with a Sensor and a moving platform. Maybe there is a possiblility with low energy and an arduino project. If this would be a solution then one has to compare the energy consumption of the sensored platform and the lights energy use.

[@3DIYCaptain]

That would be a very special hybrid sunflower !! I’m going to look at arduino project after. The next step for me is to have a good low cost light to fiber coupling system ;) coming soon !!!

[@JuanSanchez-rb4qu]

This is very impressive, are you using it for interior lighting? what kind of lamp you built for the output?

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi Juan, Thank you for your comment ! Right now it's a prototype, not efficient enough to provide long term (several hours of) light. For the output I haven't design anything yet, but il would need a semi transparent material to send light is every direction.

[@JuanSanchez-rb4qu]

@@3DIYCaptain why I cant provide long term light? heat issues?

[@3DIYCaptain]

With this device the light going inside the fiber came from a very specific region of the sky, since the sun is moving, there is a loss of light. Using a lots of collector is an idea, or a sun tracker

[@JuanSanchez-rb4qu]

@@3DIYCaptain I seen sun trackers done with arduino, and it was for bigger panels so it should be easier in this case

[@3DIYCaptain]

This is my next step :)

[@SIDDIQ.MOHAMMED]

Bro where i get this optical fiber

[@3DIYCaptain]

I got mine on eBay

[@wodorify]

Great idea! what is the diameter of each fibre used?? 😀

[@3DIYCaptain]

It was 1mm I think, but I do not recommend using plastic fiber, too many optical losses !!

[@ayberkbilgin]

Tu es français!! Je peux l'entendre :) Did you measure the intensity of the light, so that you can calculate the efficiency? That is the key.

[@3DIYCaptain]

oh oui je suis Français :) Indeed, the efficiency is the key but not only. The sun collector on this video add a poor efficiency, due to the optical fibers (low quality one). I made a new collector using less lens but better fibers, you can see it here kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3q1aKBultV-kJY With this one I went from 200Lux (ambiant light) to 8000 Lux at the output of the fiber!! so a strong increase of ambiant light :) and this was for this small collector (the number of lens can be increased) with not the best conditions (behind a glass window, thin layer of clouds...). Another major key is to be able to track the sun and I'm still working on it, just wishing to have more time to do this side project

[@crapisnice]

you can use this on a tv projector, bigger fresnel lens can be made with parabolic plastic filled with water

[@3DIYCaptain]

Hi! I did not understand about the TV projector, how can I use it? big fresnel lens = big fire :) but it can be a fun experiment! I'll try it !!! :D

[@crapisnice]

@@3DIYCaptain it depends of the lumens i suppose, that could be measured with light sensor. the colour spectrum from sun light (tweaked with diaphragms, ray filters, etc) can be better than a bulb, and way better than led. i think there are some projects out there. i think its important to bring all silicon cables all together and use a kind of plastic that creates an uniform square to go trough the lcd screen of the projector. i think this solar projection is the future of video screening.

[@3DIYCaptain]

@@crapisnice Thank you for explaining more in details. I never though of using sunlight as a source for a TV/video screening! that's quite a chalenge and really interesting!!!

[@crapisnice]

@@3DIYCaptain i guess that with water made magnifying lenses and a light sensor with arduino automation there can be 2 or 3 size types of switchable lenses with the same cable to adapt to different light conditions and cloudy time, and also a solar tracking system. you can have access to pc, video all day almost without energy consumption. also another thing that has possibilities is indoor or outdoor farming, because we increase the photons the plant receive with the same sunlight and that increases growth, if this is true it can improve farming yields as greenhouses do

[@3DIYCaptain]

@@crapisnice i'm working with Arduino boards to create a real time sun tracker. Nothing concrete done now, but still thinking about the best way to do it. I also found other sun trackers, but I like to do it myself :) learning a lot too. Sun is so powerful and for me not enough used, switching-on a light during daytime while there is sun outside is just nonsense. I'm happy to see we share the same ideas :)