Jacob Jonsson

ABSTRACT When a beam of light is incident on a translucent sample, a significant fraction of the light is scattered at high angles. Some of this scattered light may be trapped inside the substrate through multiple reflections and total internal reflection, similar to light coupling into an optical fiber. The trapping depends on factors such as the surface roughness of the external surfaces and/or the size and distribution of scattering particles inside the sample. The scattered light may thus escape out of the sample at a shifted position relative to the incident beam. This leads to port losses in an integrating sphere. The detected signal from the light entering the sphere then underestimates the hemispherical transmittance. In this paper the signal versus lateral position has been measured in an attempt to estimate the error and to find an extrapolation procedure for the correct transmittance value. The lateral measurements were carried out by moving a detector behind the sample, a procedure carried out at several angles of incidence. Different illumination methods have also been studied both theoretically and experimentally to further investigate what effect light trapping can have when characterising scattering samples.

ABSTRACT Shade-screens are widely used in commercial buildings as a way to limit the amount of direct sunlight that can disturb people in the building. The shade screens also reduce the solar heat-gain through glazing the system. Modern energy and daylighting analysis software such as EnergyPlus and Radiance require complete scattering properties of the scattering materials in the system. In this paper a shade screen used in the LBNL daylighting testbed is characterized using a photogoniometer and a normal angle of incidence integrating sphere. The data is used to create a complete bi-directional scattering distribution function (BSDF) that can be used in simulation programs. The resulting BSDF is compared to a model BSDFs, both directly and by calculating the solar heat-gain coefficient for a dual pane system using Window 6.

ABSTRACT Fenestration attachments are anticipated to produce significant reductions in building energy use because they can be deployed quickly at low-cost. New software tools enable users to assess the building energy impacts of optically complex fenestration systems (CFS) such as shades, Venetian blinds, or daylighting systems. However, such tools require users to provide bi-directional scattering distribution function (BSDF) data that describe the solar-optical performance of the CFS. A free, open-source Radiance tool genBSDF enables users to generate BSDF data for arbitrary CFS. Prior to genBSDF, BSDF data for arbitrary fenestration systems could only be produced using either expensive software or with expensive equipment. genBSDF outputs CFS data in the Window 6 XML file format and so can be used with CFS-enabled software tools to model multi-layered window systems composed of glazing and shading layers. We explain the basis and use of the genBSDF tool and validate the tool by comparing results for four different cases to BSDF data produced via alternate methods. This validation demonstrates that BSDFs created with genBSDF are comparable to BSDFs generated analytically using TracePro and by measurement with a scanning goniophotometer. This tool is expected to support accelerated adoption of fenestration attachments and daylighting technologies.

We describe two methods which rely on bidirectional scattering distribution functions (BSDFs) to model the daylighting performance of complex fenestration systems (CFS), enabling greater flexibility and accuracy in evaluating arbitrary assemblies of glazing, shading, and other optically-complex coplanar window systems. Two tools within Radiance enable a) efficient annual performance evaluations of CFS, and b) accurate renderings of CFS despite the

A visible and near-IR spectral study is presented for a translucent smooth polymer sheet in which dopant particles are clear polymer with a refractive index close to that of the clear polymer host. Diffuse, specular, and total reflectance and transmittance and absorptance as a function of sheet thickness and dopant levels approach ideal behavior for lighting applications. A fourth optical parameter, side loss S(T), is introduced to fully account for the measured data. This covers radiation that is trapped by total internal reflection (TIR) and travels sideways sufficiently far, including to the sheet's edges, to miss detection on exit. S(T) has a strong spectral character, whereas total T and R spectra closely follow the spectrally flat wavelength dependence of the undoped clear sheet. Three distinct regimes are identified for the behavior with wavelength of the specular and diffuse components and are linked to rear surface TIR and side loss.