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By Pruthvi
#9181
My idea is to supply light using optic fiber instead of the electric wires to save the energy. As we all know that when electricity travels through wires, it loses its power (potential difference). Hence we lose lots of energy when electricity travels from the power station to our home.

My idea is very simple... here are the steps:
1) Generate laser rays (or other high intensity rays) at the power station and supply it to home via fiber optic. Light loss will be less than 1% in fiber optic.
2) At home, change the laser ray light to normal light using a device.
3) Use any opaque glass material to scatter the light in all directions.

This is my basic idea. There may be theoretical loop holes, but can be corrected.

Reward: :)
By kartik
#9225
Hmmmmm......first of all electricity cannot be substituted with light!
I mean u cannot switch on the television set by powering it to an optic fibre.........and wouldn't it be silly if the power stations take the trouble of sending laser rays just to switch on ur tube light :*)
whoa......I hope u r not offended :-X if I spoke a bit too much

cheers anyhow ;-D
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By Steve
#9226
I believe the idea wasn't to substitute electricity with light, but to distribute the light you need via optic fiber. For your TV set and kitchen appliances, you'd obviously still need electricity, just not as much.
By kartik
#9228
What is the use of distributing light????????????????
By Rishi
#9231
Laser light is a high energy density (Watts/sq.cm) light. The process is quite inefficient now. Only a small fraction of the input power gets converted to light unlike fluorescent lamps and CFLs. The transmission loss in the electricity distribution network is much less than this.

Optic fibres are expensive. Much more so if high power light has to be handled. It is also not true that the loss in transmission in optical fibres for high power light is very small over long distances. The proportion of electric power used for lighting alone is quite small compared to its use for other purposes.

There will be considerable loss at nodes where the light has to be divided to different users. The loss at the input end where the mass of fibre-ends start has also to be considered.

The Russians invented a solar collector that piped in solar light through a fibre bundle to the interior of buildings that had no access to the natural light during day light hours. So Pruthvi,s basic idea is correct but may be impractical at the present state of the art.

rishi
By Pruthvi
#9237
Hi,
Kartik, Please read Rishi has explained about Russian invention.
The same thing I mean to say.
Steve / Rishi are right. We still need electricity for TV and kitchen appliences. But in India, maximum electricity for houshold purpose is used for light. Here it makes the difference if we can save total noticable % of total energy produced in India.
Secondly, CFL can save the energy but my intention is to save the energy during the transmission.
Transmission loss is upto upto 7-8 %. High intensity light can be created using CFL at source itself.
My main aim was to check for this possibility. So according to Rishi, it is possible but may not be practically implemented at this point of time as Fiber optic are costlier.

Thanks Rishi for informing me about Russian expirement.

Pruthvi ;-D
By kartik
#9246
I completely agree with Rishi on the Russian experiment. Brilliant way to artificially luminate the interior of a house......but I am still not able to understand about the use of distributing light :~(
"
But in India, maximum electricity for houshold purpose is used for light" :-? please explain how.......................I dont think that the majority of the electricity bill is used for light..............PCs TVs Washing machines etc consume less electricity than a tube light.................

Anyways I am not looking to pick up a fight but to illuminate my self ...............I would love to be wrong.
By kartik
#9247
PCs TVs Washing machines etc consume more electricity than a tube light.................
By xanado
#9251
What Rishi is talking about is not an experiment anymore. it's been around for a while. Try searching the web for "sun pipe" , "solar pipe" , "solatube" , etc. I guess it works!
By Rishi
#9252
kartik wrote:I completely agree with Rishi on the Russian experiment. Brilliant way to artificially luminate the interior of a house......but I am still not able to understand about the use of distributing light :~(
"
But in India, maximum electricity for houshold purpose is used for light" :-? please explain how.......................I dont think that the majority of the electricity bill is used for light..............PCs TVs Washing machines etc consume less electricity than a tube light.................

Anyways I am not looking to pick up a fight but to illuminate my self ...............I would love to be wrong.
There are two issues here.

!. The technical feasibility of delivering light through fibre optic cables to individual cosumers on demand from a central production station, and

2. The economics of it over conventional electricity disribution.

The first is at least theoretically not impossible.

The second is not valid at present. The cost of such light will be many times per delivered watt of light compared to the present method.

rishi
By Daryl666
#9405
line losses still are quite a concern in fiberoptics aswell you cannot bend and manipulate fiberoptics nearly aswell as you can customise the copper wiring you see if you bend a fiber optic cable so that the angle of refraction in the cable reaches past a certain point then most of the energy is actually turned around back to the source. not to mention the extreme cost of fiber optics. (i work with the stuff). at least in computer terms fiber is better than copper yes but it still is not better enough to replace lighting as the HIGH powered lazers in optics used for data still need repeaters (they boost the signal) every 2 kilometers at best.
By adaminc
#10452
As xanado has already stated, this has already been in use for a few years, they pipe in sunlight via fiberoptic cables down through buildings, its not a total substitution, but more of a supplement to the light already there, the only difference between the piped in light, and the actual sunlight is they use UV filters before the light is piped in.
By bstrick1411
#12614
I think if you could use fiber optic cables to carry normal electricity to homes that would allow for les resistense and could save on lost electrical power.
The same as we use fiberoptics in computers for data there is power being generated to carry the data so in essense you could use fiberoptics instead of copper wiring to deliver energy to the home from the closest electrical plant.
#12667
For regular homes i would be better I think to use a solatube style sky light. Just make one cheaper. What I mean is, it is more efficient to just use the light falling on ones roof. If there is no sun out then this is different. But I still think the efficiency is in people using skylight style designs for their own home.
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By swimmer
#13321
[quote="bstrick1411"]I think if you could use fiber optic cables to carry normal electricity to homes that would allow for les resistense and could save on lost electrical power.
The same as we use fiberoptics in computers for data there is power being generated to carry the data so in essense you could use fiberoptics instead of copper wiring to deliver energy to the home from the closest electrical plant.[/quote]


haha !!! fiber optics have low energy loss !! but cant transport electric energy !!

haha lets ude fiber optics to transport people then !! :p ...
why not have electric power delivered in trucks !! ?? as a large batterie !1 ?? :p
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