Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Low Cost, Energy-Saving Radiative Cooling System Ready for Real-World Applications

posted by mrpg on Sunday October 28 2018, @10:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the cool! dept.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Low cost, energy-saving radiative cooling system ready for real-world applications (edit: fixed link)

University of Colorado Boulder and University of Wyoming engineers have successfully scaled up an innovative water-cooling system capable of providing continuous day-and-night radiative cooling for structures. The advance could increase the efficiency of power generation plants in summer and lead to more efficient, environmentally-friendly temperature control for homes, businesses, utilities and industries.

The new research demonstrates how the low-cost hybrid organic-inorganic radiative cooling metamaterial, which debuted in 2017, can be scaled into a roughly 140-square-foot array—small enough to fit on most rooftops—and act as a kind of natural air conditioner with almost no consumption of electricity.

"You could place these panels on the roof of a single-family home and satisfy its cooling requirements," said Dongliang Zhao, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in CU Boulder's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Low Cost, Energy-Saving Radiative Cooling System Ready for Real-World Applications | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 24 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday October 28 2018, @10:21PM (2 children)

    by c0lo (156) on Sunday October 28 2018, @10:21PM (#754804) Journal

    This makes it possible to actually cool below ambient, dependent on convective heat input.

    Cool below ambient? No.
    Start below ambient and keep it cooler in a non-equilibrium with the environ? Yes, but this is nothing new - Dewar bottles exist for ages already.
    The only technological advance that I see is not using a double-wall-with-vacuum to implement it.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:49PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:49PM (#755817)

    A dewar insulates. It minimizes heat transfer by conduction, radiation, and convection. A well-insulated building is like a dewar. This is very different. The idea is to transfer heat away from a structure by radiating it to outer space.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday October 31 2018, @05:15AM

      by c0lo (156) on Wednesday October 31 2018, @05:15AM (#755934) Journal

      If the space radiates back with the same intensity, that will do nothing - the outgoing and the incoming radiant flux will cancel.
      Unless you managed to create the "thermal diode", that is.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0