Abstract:
such as shading from obstructions, animal interference, harsh weather conditions, and
panel orientation can significantly impact their performance. Importantly, due to
urbanization, accessing direct sunlight becomes increasingly challenging. To overcome
these challenges, the installation of indoor solar panels can be an innovative solution
with minimal maintenance for harnessing sunlight in indoor spaces where outdoor
installation is not feasible. Solar tubes are compact and cost-effective instruments used
to direct sunlight into indoor spaces. The solar tube captures sunlight from outside
through a dome, channel it through a light-guiding tube, and diffuses it into the indoor
spaces. This study investigates the feasibility and effectiveness of indoor solar panel
installation by comparing their performance with outdoor solar panels. Two
polycrystalline 5 W solar panels were used in this study. One solar panel was installed
inside a model house with dimension of 50 cm × 40 cm × 40 cm as an indoor solar
panel, while the other solar panel was placed on top of the model house. Measurements
were taken using an automated IoT based microcontroller system. Preliminary results
suggests that indoor solar panel was 10 % as efficient as the outdoor panel. By
exploring indoor solar panels with light-guiding tubes, we have introduced an
alternative solution to access more solar electricity, contributing to the development of
indoor solar technology and address common issues with outdoor solar panels. This
aligns with the global push for clean energy by introducing innovative methods to
expand solar energy use.
