Solatube® patented design technologies
Solatube® Daylighting Systems incorporate patented technologies that combine to take full advantage of the available daylight and deliver stunning levels of light. They actively harvest daylight at roof level to make sure the most light possible is directed into the tube aperture. Spectralight® Infinity, a revolutionary super-reflective tubing material then transfers the light to the room below – more daylight than any other material currently used in the industry. Read more below about the technologies used in the Solatube Brighten Up® Series and how they combine to ensure that Solatube maintains its position as the world's leading tubular daylighting device.
The roof dome
Patented light-capturing technologies incorporated in the roof dome ensure that as much of the available daylight as possible enters the tube throughout the day and at the steepest possible angle. Solatube® roof domes are injection moulded from virtually unbreakable, impact-resistant polycarbonate, TP(a) fire rated to comply with UK Building Regulations, and they incorporate UV screening. The curved shape of the roof dome ensures that the surface is cleansed by the elements and therefore is completely maintenance-free.
Patented Raybender® 3000 Technology
This is a series of Fresnel lenses (rather like a prism) moulded into the dome. They are located at critical locations inside the dome and ensure the path of any daylight that would otherwise have passed straight through the dome and out the other side, is redirected instead into the tube at the steepest angle possible.
This ensures that the Solatube® dome continues to give excellent light input even when the sun is low in the sky in the early morning, evening and during winter months.
LightTracker™ reflector
Made from 99.7% reflective Spectralight Infinity material, this reflector clips into the dome to provide a highly reflective surface area available to catch yet more low level light and redirect it down into the tube.
The combination of the Raybender® 3000 Technology and the LightTracker™ reflector can more than double the amount of light entering the tube, significantly improving the performance of the system at all times of the day and year.
Spectralight® Infinity reflective tubing
Spectralight® Infinity is 99.7% reflective and is the most reflective material used in any tubular daylighting device. Produced exclusively for Solatube® Daylighting Systems, it is used on all reflective surfaces within the system. In tubular daylighting devices, every time light bounces off the inner surface of the tube it loses a percentage of its energy (light). The higher the tube reflectivity, the the less energy is lost, so the greater the light transfer.
With the 99.7% reflective rigid tube material, if the light bounces 20 times to get from one end of the tube to the other, only 0.3% of the energy (light) is absorbed at each bounce which means a huge 94.17% of the original light is transferred after 20 bounces.
By comparison, a lower quality, 98% reflective tube will lose 2% of light per bounce. So after twenty bounces, only 66.76% of the light is transferred – a huge difference!
The ceiling diffuser
A ceiling diffuser is necessary to distribute the transferred daylight to the room below. Solatube® diffusers are of quality and robust construction, yet maintain a sleek and contemporary appearance, fitting neatly to the ceiling with no visible fasteners. Solatube® diffusers incorporate prismatic or Fresnel lens technology to ensure uniform light distribution. All are double-glazed to prevent heat gain or loss so heated or cooled air is not lost from the room, and, together with the UV inhibitors in the Solatube® dome, they block almost all UV – so no faded carpets or soft furnishings. Solatube has a range of diffuser styles and options to suit your home.
- The combined technologies incorporated in the Solatube® roof dome can more than double the amount of light entering the tube
- Solatube® with its innovative 99.7% reflective Spectralight® Infinity tube material were featured on the BBC's
Tomorrow's World programme a fewyears ago when the science behindthe technology was demonstrated ...
Solatube® went on to win a BBC Tomorrow's World Award for Consumer Innovation
- Tube material with a reflective value lower than 99.7% will have a significant impact on the amount of light delivered. See how Spectralight® Infinity helps Solatube® Daylighting Systems to deliver unrivalled performance
- The 99.7% reflectivity value of the Spectralight® Infinity material that is used on all Solatube reflective surfaces has been certified by the BBA
- A steeper angle of light entry into the tube will result in fewer bounces of light against the sides of the tube ... and fewer bounces mean less daylight is lost on its way to the room below
- In the Solatube Brighten Up® Series, the figures 160 and 290 represent the measured Effective Daylight Capturing Surface (EDCS) area of each system; this is the surface area in square inches that actively collects and redirects daylight into the tube for each system respectively
- By comparison, similar sized systems with a clear dome and no light capturing devices would have an EDCS of only 79 and 154 respectively
