I've seen this story a couple places recently, if you cut a hole in the ceiling of a shed, and insert a 2-liter clear-plastic bottle, filling it with water (and 2 caps of bleach to keep away science experiments) brings in sunlight much like the "solatube".
It was promoted in Central America, and to turn off the lights, you set a black plastic bucket over the "light". Of course, you would seal around the bottle against rain...
http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-turn-a-2-liter-bottle-of-water-into-a-50-watt-lightbulb
This didn't use LED lights, but I've heard that one of the drawbacks of LED's is that their light is very directional. This mod uses a downward facing tube lamp, that is set over one of those glass cylindrical globes that protect outdoor bulbs. By filling it with mineral oil (colored or clear) the downward-shining light is diffused
http://www.popsci.com/bubblelight