Automated Vertical Blinds for Daylighting in Tropical Region

The use of automatically controlled interior Venetian blinds can provide view and penetration of daylighting through window. In this study, an automatic system of vertical blinds affixed behind windows situated on north-west facades of a laboratory room were developed in order to investigate its daylighting performance. The system controls automatically the blind slats to shade out beam sunlight. Simulation using reference calculation algorithms and sky luminance distribution models and utilizing measured beam sunlight and diffuse daylight from the sky or skylight produces results that agree well with results from experiments. Moreover, using records of beam sunlight and diffuse skylight illuminance, simulation results show that the automated vertical blind and electric lighting system, when used in a room with the same configuration as that of the experimental room, can utilize daylight to save more than 24% of electric lighting energy in every month of the simulated year while maintaining illuminance at the workstation at the required level.