| Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision |
| writing:solar_concentrators [2025/12/01 16:27] – JacobCoffinWrites | writing:solar_concentrators [2026/01/01 04:46] (current) – JacobCoffinWrites |
|---|
| === Reflectors === | === Reflectors === |
| |
| they’re so simple. Mirrors, framework, and established formulas for overall shape, and you can produce incredible heat – up to 3,500 °C. The materials are commonly available, and require very little tech base to produce or assemble, and they can take some of the highest-resource-consuming tasks off the grid. They’re not as reliable as electric power, and that’s a trade-off, but the right combination of technologies, and some adjustment of expectations and schedules, could significantly drop the overall, societal requirements for the collection and storage and distribution of electricity. | With mirrors, a support framework, and established formulas for the overall shape, you can produce incredible heat – up to 3,500 °C. The materials are commonly available, and require very little tech base to produce or assemble, and they can take some of the highest-resource-consuming tasks off the grid. From tiny solar cookers to massive solar furnaces, there are tons of clever formats for this technology. Heating with the sun might not be as reliable as with electric power (assuming a reliable grid), but with the right combination of technologies, and some adjustment of expectations and schedules, a solarpunk society could produce heat for free and significantly drop its overall, requirements for the collection and storage and distribution of electricity. |
| |
| |
| |
| * **[[https://dornob.com/windowless-daylight-fiber-optics-project-sun-sky-inside/|Fiber Optic Daylighting]]** These systems use solar collector systems outside (usually some sort of multi-lens rig mounted on motors to seek the sun throughout the day, though some are simpler and passive) to redirect sunlight into fiber optic cables, which are used to bring it indoors to simple diffusers that scatter the light at the destination, usually a dark interior room. The advantages over light bulbs are that it's genuinely natural light, and that it lacks the strobing effect you get with most electric lights. It only works during the day, but that's the time when humans are most active. They also make some sense in some kinds of [[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038092X22007484|agriculture]]. Perhaps they'd be a good fit for growing crops in [[winter_greenhouses|walipinis]] or underground during the winter. | * **[[https://dornob.com/windowless-daylight-fiber-optics-project-sun-sky-inside/|Fiber Optic Daylighting]]** These systems use solar collector systems outside (usually some sort of multi-lens rig mounted on motors to seek the sun throughout the day, though some are simpler and passive) to redirect sunlight into fiber optic cables, which are used to bring it indoors to simple diffusers that scatter the light at the destination, usually a dark interior room. The advantages over light bulbs are that it's genuinely natural light, and that it lacks the strobing effect you get with most electric lights. It only works during the day, but that's the time when humans are most active. They also make some sense in some kinds of [[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038092X22007484|agriculture]]. Perhaps they'd be a good fit for growing crops in [[winter_greenhouses|walipinis]] or underground during the winter. |
| | * **[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_tube|Light Tubes]]** If fiberoptic daylighting sounds a little over-complicated for your setting, perhaps a light tube is a better fit. These work in a similar way, but are passive and simpler to maintain. The downsides are that they capture less light and work best when the 'tube' is short and straight. |
| |
