Solar light pipe team receives $75,000 to further develop, implement or market its design.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirms that Aggies have come up with an ultra-bright idea. A solar light pipe system designed by Dr. Liliana Beltrán, associate professor of architecture, and built with help from six environmental design, construction science and electrical engineering students was one of 14 winning projects at an EPA sustainability competition last spring in Washington, D.C. The A&M team received $75,000 to further develop, implement or market its Horizontal Hybrid Solar Light Pipe: An Integrated System of Daylight and Electric Light, which transports sunlight into buildings from as far away as 40 feet.

The device funnels light from a collector through a pipe of highly reflective material into a simulated office in a freight container. Because the pipe passively redirects daylight through a small window opening, it reduces both lighting and cooling costs.

To develop the system, Beltrán helped the Aggies study and select materials and components; optimize the interaction of daylight and electric light sources and controls; build and install the system; and capture data from it. Electrical engineering students installed the system’s electric lighting and dimming controls; construction science and environmental design students focused on construction of the light pipe geometry and testing room.


Nick Gignac ’05, working on his master’s degree in architecture, checks the solar light pipe in a simulated office space in a freight container at the Texas A&M Riverside campus.


David Zatopek ’85 (right), a member of the Department of Architecture Advisory Council, checks out the solar light pipe project. At left is Nick Gignac ’05, part of the student team that presented the project at a sustainability competition last April in Washington. Also shown is Annica Nilsson, a Ph.D. student in physical engineering from Uppsala University in Sweden who came to A&M to learn about daylighting.


Beltrán shows the light pipe project to Ronald Skaggs ’65, chairman of HKS Inc., and a former student in Texas A&M’s College of Architecture.

Click here to learn more about the project.

For more information about how you can support Texas A&M’s College of Architecture, contact Larry Zuber, senior director of development at the Texas A&M Foundation, at (800) 392-3310 or (979) 845-0939.