Solatube® Daylighting Systems – unrivalled performance
The Solatube® Daylighting System will provide more daylight all day long, all year long than any other tubular daylighting device – guaranteed! Not only is this backed up by independent tests carried out by the Building Research Establishment, but a simple mathematical calculation demonstrated below shows how the tube material plays a huge part in providing the best light transfer. As you can see, a small difference in reflectivity value can make a substantial difference to the overall light delivery of a tubular daylighting device.
Of course, the more light you can get into the tube in the first place, the better. And the steeper this light enters the tube, the fewer bounces it will take down the tube and that means less light is absorbed en route. The technologies in the Solatube® roof dome actively work towards getting more light into the tube at the steepest possible angle and can more than double the amount of light entering the tube over a system without them.
In the Solatube® roof dome, the LightTracker™ reflector and the Raybender® 3000 Technology actively harvest daylight and direct it down the tube at the steepest possible angle for minimum light loss.
The LightTracker™ reflector is particularly effective during the winter months, early morning and evening when the sun is low in the sky, as it is ideally positioned to reflect and redirect the low angled light into the tube – light that would otherwise have passed straight through the dome and been lost.
The Raybender® 3000 technology ensures light enters the dome at the steepest possible angle to minimize the number of bounces the light will take down the tube. This steeper 'angle of incidence' ensures less light is lost on its path to the room below.
Independent comparative tests
Comparative tests were carried out between the Solatube® 290 DS Daylighting System and the two widely-available 350mm diameter flexible systems. The tests were were carried out by the UK's Building Research Establishment (an independent testing facility set-up by the government to evaluate building products) who concluded that the Solatube® Daylighting System outperformed the flexible tube systems by at least 10 times, and in some applications up to as much as 28 times. Read the full report.
How much light will Solatube® Daylighting Systems provide?
A Solatube® Daylighting System – indeed any tubular daylighting device – works in a similar manner to a window; the brighter the day outside, the more light you receive inside. The table below shows lumen and lux levels that you can expect to receive from a Solatube® Daylighting System under UK weather conditions. 
The key when selecting a tubular daylighting device is to make sure you choose the system that takes best advantage of the available light levels at all times of the day and year – and this is where Solatube® Daylighting Systems are light years ahead of any other tubular daylighting device and why the Brighten Up® Series Solatube® Daylighting Systems come with a Highest Performance Guarantee.
Lumen/lux output of Solatube® Daylighting Systems
The lumen and lux figures in the chart below show the light output you can expect to receive from a Solatube® Daylighting System that has been installed into the largest recommended room size, with a tube length of 1.8 metres. If you install your Solatube® Daylighting System into a smaller room and have a shorter length tube, the light delivered can be significantly higher. Please see our case study of a bathroom installation where light readings were taken before and after the Solatube® Daylighting System was installed.
Lumen output of electric lamps
To give you an idea of the level of light that lumens can bring, the chart below shows how they compare to the light output of various typical household lamps.
Source: www.energyguide.com
