Design of an anidolic concentrator and evaluation of daylight enhancement under an overcast sky

This paper discusses the performance evaluation of anidolic concentrators in an overcast sky condition. The concentrators were designed, with acceptance angles of 60°, 70° and 80°, first by maintaining the profile of the concentrator's uniform and secondly by keeping the height uniform. Studies were done using these concentrators with a model light pipe and the performance was compared with that of an acrylic dome and a profiled Fresnel collector. For a given condition, the illuminance ratio (ratio of illuminance measured at the base of the pipe to external illumination) increased with the acceptance angle. For a given acceptance angle, the concentrator with uniform height and variation of entrance aperture, performed better than a concentrator having a uniform profile.