SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 30 2018, @09:24PM
Thisis a press release about another effort. They claimed "nearly 9 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the surrounding air during the day." I don't know the physics behind it, but we can make emitters of light that don't approximate black bodies. If it's no more effective than providing shade from sunlight during the day and a view of the sky at night (something that could be done without a moving mirror) that will be a disappointment, but easy to check. [stanford.edu]