Sunlight harvester growing market share
Sunlight harvesting systems supplier Light Sculptors reports that its services have been well received by the South African wine industry and food manufacturing industry. Light Sculptors is the first company to focus on developing and selling sunlight harvesting systems for the South African market.
Company CEO Fanie Neethling tells Engineering News that, although the concept of sunlight harvesting has been in use for many decades in places such as Chile and the US, the concept only came into the South African market two years ago.
The system uses daylight to offset the amount of electric lighting needed to properly light a space, thereby reducing energy consumption.
The installation process sees the company install microprismatic harvester domes on the roof of a building. A second skin is placed on the roof to prevent leakage, with a polycarbonate lens in the building’s ceiling.
“The dome harvests the sunlight, providing light that shines on the lens on the building’s ceiling and focuses the light on the work floor, eliminating the need to use electricity,” Neethling explains.
This combination uses daylight hours and evenly distributes light levels of between 80 lux to 1 000 lux which can be achieved in standard industrial buildings.
He further states this method is set apart from similar systems, particularly the skylight method, as it focuses the light on an area that has been specified by the client, and thereby does not waste light.
Neethling says Light Sculptors has also invented a Sun Gazer that automatically turns on electric lights when the sun is not shining.
Further, the system also prevents the sun’s heat penetrating the building, as the dome and the lens have heat absorption properties, leaving a cushion of air in-between.
“The systems use 0.4% of the roof space to light up the floor, while other transparent sheeting, for instance, uses between 14% and 20% of the roof space, for comparative light-levels,” remarks Neethling.
Light Sculptors began developing the sun- light harvesting product when it was established in 2012, and only started selling a year ago.
“We have had a specific focus on the wine industry in the Cape and we have already fitted the system in many food and agriculture business buildings, both there and in Johannesburg,” states Neethling, adding that the company has also been receiving orders from property developers that lease their buildings to busi- nesses in an attempt to cut energy costs.
He says Light Sculptors already installed sunlight harvesting systems in several business buildings in towns, such as Malmesbury, Vredendal, Worcester, Middelburg, Paarl and Johannesburg.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation