California based day-lighting expert, Solatube International Inc is the developer of the device known as the Solatube Daylighting system.
The company says their daylighting systems are increasingly installed in homes and commercial buildings as part of energy-saving and sustainability efforts around the world.
"It's basically a dome on top of the roof that captures daylight and transfers it through a highly reflective beam and defuses it into any dark spaces you wish," said Patrick Dickey, Director, International sales of Solatube.
"It can be used anywhere daylight is needed," he said.
Solatube says it's domes can be fixed on any type of roof and can beam natural daylight through multiple storied buildings.
The cost of installing one unit will be around 65.000 rupees, Solatube's local distributor, Sunpower Systems (Pvt) Ltd said.
A primary segment of Solatube's international market includes factories, warehouses and industrial settings including supermarkets.
Among some of the multinational companies using Solatube's daylighting systems are Toyota, Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Philip Moris and Pepsico.
"We are heavily involved in India south East Asia and China and we see a tremendous potential in Sri Lanka because of the leads we get," Dickey said.
Solatube says they are eyeing Sri Lanka's garment factories, manufacturing plans, industrial warehouses and supermarkets.
"Garment factories and supermarkets are a growing market for us," Dickey said.
"It’s a tremendous burden for these factories to take so much electricity from other places that actually could use it,"
"So we are capitalizing on turning off lights during the day. If this is correctly set you do not need artificial lights at all during 9 to 4 in the afternoon," he said.
The company estimates that it's daylighting devices could cut electricity costs by over 20 percent and reduce the heat load on air-conditioning.
Solatube says global energy saving trends are shifting more toward daylighting to cut energy costs on artificial lighting, achieve minimal loss of light and to reduce the heat that is usually associated with normal daylight devices like windows and skylights.
The domes are made from high quality acrylic resin that is specifically formulated for increased impact strength, chemical and weather resistance and clarity, the company said.
Solatube says the tubing is made from puncture proof aluminium material that has a UV protective covering which will allow the highest light output with minimal thermal impact.
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