Interessante sui Solar Tubes:
So in my reading of all the brands out there and there are TONS!!!! it seems the most information is available from the solatube brand. They "CLAIM" to be the first guys to the game but i dunno if that true. Regardless it seems they've invested the most in R&D out of all of them. With that said you guys have to remember these are products that are designed for the home user that is worried about typical "HOME ISSUES" not the reefer... why is this important? Well follow my thought process..
the average home user that is considering the use of these products is worried about things like :
1) Heat load .. more ? Less? same? than conventional lighting...
2) Performance... will it be brighter than my regular bulbs?
3) Type of light? Will it help me in "feeling" better? Because of the links found between sunlight and depression.
4)Will the sunlight fade my carpet?
5)etc... the list goes on...
the average reefer however has entirely a different set of criteria.. some are in line with the homeowner.. some are in direct contradiction....
In line with the homeowner:
1) Heat load? will it make my tank hotter!
2) Type of light - will the light be yellow?
3) Amount of light? will it be brighter than my CF/MH etc..
Not in line:
1) Will my Corals get enough PAR...
2) Will i need to supplement...
3)etc...
you need to dig deeper in order to really understand if this will be good solution for the reefer. BTW i personally am sold on it but these are the thing i was thinking about when deciding...>>
Most people automatically assumes " hell its sunlight so it must be AWESOME for my corals right?" WRONG!! Not necessarily.. you see every manufacturer uses different technology and some use none.. so for instance... we in the reef community are very keen on what light radiation we are exposing our corals to.. so we understand that there are many types of energy released by the sun and light bulbs.. Bright isn’t just bright.. it’s what KIND of bright... with natural sun light everything in the entire spectrum is coming down.. including some things we want.. and some we don't want.. Solatube for instance allows most of the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nanometers) through... it also blocks nearly everything under 400 and nearly everything above 700... well that’s good and bad... above 700 is mostly "heat" energy but there is some crucial spectrum up there needed for photosynthesis and other biological processes our corals depend on ... how much affect it will have to block them out? hell i dunno... but i wrote this off as "oh well since i know for a fact no bulb in existence will give off as much "good stuff" as even the worst solar tube.. im gonna say im still doing better than just bulbs". Not everything in the under 400 nanometers is bad... because in nature corals are exposed to high levels of UV A/B. and C they have built up methods of coping with them and in some cases have actually evolved to NEED them.. so removing them completely is NOT good ... again.. just something to think about... in the case of solatube... if you’re a homeowner.. it’s probably the best one to get.. They are simply superior in terms of actual performance.. they block almost all emissions outside of the visible spectrum which is dang good.. they actually emit less heat into a house than even fluorescent bulbs so they will actually LOWER your heat load and save you $$$. However.. I’m not so sure that’s what the reefer wants.. for that reason i think I’m going with the ODL brand that is by far the LEAST performing brand..makes no sense right? Why would i want the worst of a product?... well its basically a pipe that lets in sun light.. Doesn’t do much filtering or blocking.. lets it all in... for the homeowner.. well that’s not a good thing.. for the reefer i figure its closer to what they are exposed to in nature... so that’s the route I’m going... hope I’m making sense.. btw the solatube sight has lots of info on these numbers.. also there is a company called sun-tek that has a cool variation… they have a line called “spyder” that looks like a spider.. basically you make one large hole in your roof and can have up to four pipes… for the reefer that makes allot of sense …. We’ll want more than one pipe anyway.. Another technology out there that takes the solar tube idea to the next level is called “active day lighting systems” where they take a basic sun tube design like any of the above mentioned and add a simple tracking system in the dome.. This is a revolving mirror if you will.. It tracks the sun from sunrise to sunset pointing the mirrors directly at the sun so you get good light intensity throughout the day.. here is a link to one of them...
http://www.ciralightglobal.com/ciralightProducts.php ...
Last edited by d5omino; 09-01

10 at 12:58 AM. Reason: typo
Here is a small sample
What is the UV impact of installing a Solatube Daylighting System?
To answer this question we first need to understand what wavelengths of radiation are emitted through a Solatube Daylighting System. Solatube Daylighting Systems utilize two technologies to eliminate UV radiation and reduce heat from infrared (IR) wavelengths from entering the building interior as follows:
The first technology is related to the domes. Solatube acrylic outer domes have special UV inhibitors designed to block 100% of UVB (280 to 315 nanometers), 100% UVC (100 to 280 nanometers) and 95% UVA (315 to 400 nanometers) rays.
The second technology is related to the tubing. Spectralight Infinity tubing transmits the visible spectrum of light (400 to 760 nanometers). The infrared spectrum of light (above 760 nanometers) is not transmitted by the Spectralight Infinity tubing.
With this information in mind, the following subjects can be addressed:There are a few factors to consider when determining if a Solatube Daylighting System will have an effect on plant growth in conjunction with the above information. The first factor would be how much UV, if any, the particular plant will need for proper growth. Second, the size of the product you are using may impact how much light the plant will be able to obtain. It is also important to point out that the Solatube Daylighting System removes a majority of the infrared wavelengths, which only provide heat to the plants. This substantially reduces any heat related stress problems that may occur with indoor plants.
Typically plant growth occurs between 400 and 1000 nanometers. Based on this data, it would be safe to say that in general a Solatube Daylighting System will have a positive effect on plant growth depending on that particular plants UV requirements.
Fading of Clothing and/or Furniture
The Solatube Daylighting System will not cause fading of clothing or furniture due to its UV blocking capabilities.
Solar Heat Gain
With the infrared blocking capabilities of the Spectralight Infinity tubing, removing greater than 50% of the heat from the infrared wavelengths (>900 nanometer's) of the sun with every reflection on the tube surface, the Solar Heat Gain of Solatube products is greatly reduced, which in turn will reduce the air conditioning load requirement for the space being daylit. These technologies allow Solatube Daylighting Systems to provide the highest light output performance with minimal thermal impact.
UV Effect on Skin and Vitamin D
The different UV wavelengths effect skin in the following ways:>>[/font]
UVA - The lowest energy range, UVA causes little burning ordinarily, but it penetrates deeply, beyond the surface layer of the skin. Over long periods of exposure, UVA causes wrinkling and premature aging of the skin.
UVB - More energetic, the chief burning and tanning rays which area major factor in producing skin cancer, although not penetrating beyond the skin
UVC - The most energetic, intensely burning rays. Fortunately, UVC is mostly absorbed by the earth's sunscreen, the ozone layer
Concerning Vitamin D it is synthesized in the skin when UV rays react with a compound within skin between the 270

0 nanometers wavelengths, with peak synthesis between 295-297 nanometers. Based on this information the Solatube Daylighting Systems do not transfer the required UV for Vitamin D synthesis as it will block all of the UVB and UVC rays, which fall between the 100

5 nanometer range
Note: The UV information in this article is specific to Solatube Daylighting Systems - other TDD products may not provide the same performance standards