Numerical Investigation of Natural Light Transmission Through Fiber Optics

Taher Maatallah, Mussad Alzahrani, Ahmad Almatar, Faisal Wahab and Sajid Ali ()
Additional contact information
Taher Maatallah: Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Mussad Alzahrani: Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Ahmad Almatar: Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Faisal Wahab: Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Sajid Ali: Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-29

Abstract: Fiber optics is a cutting-edge technology with boundless potential for transmitting natural light inside buildings. Imaging Solar concentrators are very efficient in focusing light within the approximate numerical aperture of fiber optics. The proof-of-concept of fiber optics concentration daylight systems was investigated and elaborated for only single-mode step-index fibers, and none of the previous studies had explored the full sun spectrum meticulously, the overall transmission efficiency, and the luminous output of such a system. The present research elaborates a detailed and exclusive numerical investigation of multi-mode-indexed fiber optics daylight systems. The proposed design consists of subsequent optical stages that focus light into the fiber optic cable, filter unwanted infrared wavelength radiation, and uniformly collimate visible light onto the fiber optics. The ray path and ray power intensities were traced and computed using the ray tracing technique. The obtained simulation results demonstrated an overall optical transmission efficiency of 32% along a 10 m length. The luminous efficacy of visible light transmission was evaluated based on the average illuminance levels inside buildings, indicating a substantial indoor lighting enhancement of 92 lumens/watt. The proof-of-concept was validated by building a laboratory scale of the proposed system; the tests have shown the technical feasibility of the system and the effective material integrity for practical applications

Keywords: multi-mode-indexed fiber optics; luminous efficacy; solar concentration; daylighting system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1103/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/5/1103/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:1103-:d:1598620

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().