Who is doing research in hybrid solar lighting (HSL)?
Research that’s under way now at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee could lead to entirely new, highly energy-efficient ways of lighting buildings using the power of sunlight. In addition to providing light, HSL would convert sunlight to electricity much more efficiently than conventional solar technologies. In commercial buildings, lighting consumes more electric energy than any other use. And lighting accounts for more than a third of all the electricity consumed for commercial use in the United States. Typically, less than 25% of that energy actually produces light; the rest generates heat, which increases the need for air-conditioning. So, ORNL is developing a system to reduce the energy required for lighting and the air-conditioning loads associated with it, while generating power for other uses—for example, heating or cooling the spaces in buildings. The HSL concept, originated by ORNL’s Jeff Muhs, separates and uses different portions of sunlight for two applicati
