Development of the concept of recycling of light

Research on increases in efficiency in illumination systems has been mainly focused on the luminaires used. This paper describes how optical fibers can be placed in a room to collect unused light and then transmit it to an area needing the illumination. By this method an efficiency can be realized by a reduction in the number or power consumption of luminaires. The light that is emitted from the fiber is measured in relation to fiber-to-source distances and alignments. The emission profiles of the optical fibers at different fiber-to-source distances and misalignments, as well as fiber-end preparation, affect the lighting distribution in the receiving area.