Microstructural fabrication and design of sunlight guide panels of inorganic–organic hybrid material

This study demonstrates a sunlight guide panel with a UV-imprinted microstructure that improves sunlight utilization in buildings. The panel that was assembled to the transoms of a building guides sunlight from outdoors to enhance indoor lighting. To match the requirements of outdoor applications, an inorganic–organic hybrid material was adopted for high weather resistance and transparency. An optical analysis was conducted for outgoing angles of sunlight through the guide panel to study the effect of the angle of solar elevation, wavelength of the sunlight, wear ratio of the microstructure, and scale of the microstructure. The micropatterns of the panel included 90° feature with pitches of 50 and 100 μm, as well as 45° feature with pitch of 50 μm. The experimental results showed good pattern fidelity and a high energy efficiency in the imprinted panel. The optical performance of the sunlight guide panel was measured and found to be consistent with the simulated prediction.