But it will not be long before economies of scale and diminishing production costs bring fibre-optics into the average household. In Japan, himiwari are appearing on some roofs. The device looks like a large satellite dish inside a plastic enclosure which contains fresnel lenses that collect and intensify the sun's rays. The rays are then piped down into buildings. The infrared beams are extracted and used to heat the building.
Plants love it.
The fibre-optic cables illuminate rooms and provide decorative strip lighting. No electricity is used here, so there is little chance of fire. There are lower insurance rates too. B.L. Innovative Lighting of Vancouver, which supplied materials for the Monk McQueen installation, says that a single 150-watt metal halide light with 10 fibres connected to 10 light fixtures will provide as much light as 1,000 watts of conventional lighting. Only one bulb is required.