For starters: I Searched and couldn't find anything on this so if this is a repost, sorry - any links to existing posts would be appreciated.

Background: We have two solatubes at work in our new "open office" space.  They are the 20"+ in diameter and have the Fresnel Diffuser (which is about 10-12' off the floor.)

Issue: The solar tubes (on slightly overcast days) are blindingly bright and they create two brutally bright spots in the ceiling (requiring us sometimes to wear sunglasses inside).  On sunny days, it's impossible to work at your desk because these things are just too bright.  As I stated, we have Fresnel lenses for diffusers but other solar tubes in adjacent buildings use different diffusers and have the same issue.

I'm looking for a solution...  My thought was to find a way to reflect the light back up towards the ceiling at an angle.  our ceilings are white and would disperse the light in a more even pattern and prevent "hot spots" in the ceiling that on bright days are Brutal.  See Below:

(This photo is on an overcast day)

My question...  Is there such a device such as a shallow conical reflector (I've attached a jpg with a basic markup of what I'd be looking for) or are there other solutions?  The dimmer solutions available cut out the light which isn't what I want to do as we do want to harness the outside light. (plus - Dimmer wars would ensue among office workers as the lights already are a point of contention.)  The diffuser (in theory) is supposed to spread the light, but in reality, it still creates a blinding bright spot in the ceiling and doesn't really spread the light around very evenly.  If the tube/diffuser was 30' up in the air, I don't think it would be as much of an issue, but... it's not.

fyi, the styling of the office is more industrial with exposed ventilation ducts, conduit, etc...  The "Ceiling" identified in the drawing below is what is considered a suspended "Cloud" as you can see in the photo above.  You can also see how dark the ceiling is above and that is painted the "institutional off-white" color along with everything else up there (except for the ductwork)

Thanks,

~SB

Your reflector looks like the right idea, but I'd use 45 degrees (or a little more) so it isn't reflecting much of the light back up into the tube. Could be made out of white paper.

I agree, shortening the tube would be another solution.

I wonder if these tubes save more energy in lighting than they loose in heating/cooling and the cost of the tube.

That is awesome. First saw this concept applied somewhere that they don't have access to electricity but they used clear water bottles.

This is good!