Sunlight is vital for our health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, many of us live and work in places that don’t have access to natural light. This is usually because of the architecture of buildings. There are several ways of bringing natural light to a room that is positioned far away from the windows. Here are some of them:
1. Using the Parans System
The Parans system involves the use of fibre optic cables to transport sunlight through a building. It can carry sunlight through 30 floors while retaining its luminosity and quality. An advantage of this system is that it follows the sun through the day. This way, you enjoy natural light at all times of the day.The Paranslight SP4 system can be adapted and expanded to suit your needs. It can serve between 4 and 20 light points. The length of the cables can be customized to any size under 100 metres. As an extra advantage, dangerous IR and UV rays are filtered out of the light, meaning the light you get is almost free of radiation.
2. Architectural Light Shelves
Light shelves are horizontal surfaces that are meant to reflect light deep into a building. These surfaces are typically placed above eye level and on the side of the equator. This side usually has the maximum light. If used correctly, these shelves can eliminate the need for artificial lighting during the day. Unfortunately, light shelves cannot be used in places with intense solar gain such as deserts.Exterior sunshades are often classified as a type of light shelves. This is because they direct sunlight to the ceiling of the room. However, the main purpose of exterior sunshades is to reduce glare in a room and limit the solar heat gain.