University research team harvests sunlight for underground spaces — ‘Smart’ device could address future demand for round-the-clock lighting in underground buildings

Deepa Sundar at The Straits Times reports researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have designed a “smart” device to harvest daylight and relay it to underground spaces. The device was designed by Assistant Professor Yoo Seongwoo from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Dr Charu Goel, principal research fellow at NTU’s Photonics Institute. An acrylic ball, a single plastic optical fibre – a type of cable that carries a beam of light from one end to another – and computer chip-assisted motors were used to build the device, which weighs 10kg and has a total height of…