Transmission of concentrated solar energy via fibre-optic bundle (FOB) has a great potential for numerous applications. In this paper, it is aimed to determine the transmission performance of a constructed plastical FOB-based solar lighting system. The experiments and measurements are carried out by means of a metal halide source simulating the spectral distribution of solar radiation in visible range of wavelength. Optical efficiency, luminous efficacy, attenuation, spectral characterization under different bending conditions, integration of optical filters and FOB were investigated. The effects of the optical filter proposed are discussed for a solar lighting system. Spectral and colour properties of FOB and the optical filter are also presented. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.