Fabricating a bearing mount, sourcing and soldering together electronic parts such as a sub-fractional horsepower dc motor, comparators, light sensors and limit switches has taken time. The resulting prototype is still a compromise, but should yield a respectable light intensity given the use of a single-axis solar tracker and a 27" reflective surface as a solar collector.
Much remains to be done!
- The reflective surface will initially be self-adhesive chrome tape on a vinyl backing (think sign lettering), and has yet to be applied since the plexi-mirror warped from heat,
- Mounting the dish and solar tracking apparatus to the exterior face of the building has yet to take place, but is close at hand for testing the solar tracking device (not just the motor as I have done in my shop),
- UV/IR glass has to be sourced for removing the sunlight's harmful components prior to introducing scalding concentrated sunlight to valuable and vulnerable fiber optic cable,
- Lighting application-appropriate fiber optic cable has now been located! BL Innovative Lighting is one of four manufacturers in the world that makes the type of end-glow fiber optic cable I need, and they're in Vancouver, BC !,
- Once all components are mounted, light is distributed through a fixture or lens, and all is functioning, light measurement data needs to be collected, and
- A final report has to be written for submission by December of 2010.
In an effort to focus on the solar-lighting aspect of this research, the 'hybrid' component has been relegated to the use of a previously existing electrical lighting system, and a carefully adjusted photocell for auxiliary lighting. Efforts to make the hybrid system automatic or tied in with the existent fiber-optics will be examined in future versions.
Check back for new developments in the weeks to come - thanks for reading,
Tony.
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