  We describe the work carried out at MPIK to design, model, build and
characterize a prototype cell filled with a novel indium-loaded scintillator of
interest for real-time low energy solar neutrino spectroscopy. First, light
propagation in optical modules was studied with experiments and Monte Carlo
simulations. Subsequently a 5 cm x 5 cm x 100 cm prototype detector was set up
and the optical performances of several samples were measured. We first tested
a benchmark PXE-based scintillator, which performed an attenuation length of ~
4.2 m and a photo-electron yield of ~ 730 pe/MeV. Then we measured three
In-loaded samples. At an In-loading of 44 g/l, an energy resolution of ~ 11.6 %
and a spatial resolution of ~ 7 cm were attained for 477 keV recoil electrons.
The long-range attenuation length in the cell was ~1.3 m and the estimated
photo-electron yield ~ 200 pe/MeV. Light attenuation and relative light output
of all tested samples could be reproduced reasonably well by MC. All optical
properties of this system have remained stable over a period of > 1 y.
