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Passive daytime radiative cooling: Principle, application, and economic analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2020

Yuan Yang*
Affiliation:
Program of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York10027, USA
Yifan Zhang
Affiliation:
Program of Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York10027, USA
*
Address all correspondence to Yuan Yang at [email protected]
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Abstract

Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) is an electricity-free method for cooling terrestrial entities. In PDRC, a surface has a solar reflectance of nearly 1 to avoid solar heating and a high emittance close to 1 in the long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) transparent window of the atmosphere (wavelength λ = 8–13 μm) for radiating heat to the cold sky. This allows the surface to passively achieve sub-ambient cooling. PDRC requires careful tuning of optical reflectance in the wide optical spectrum, and various strategies have been proposed in the last decade, some of which are under commercialization. PDRC can be used in a variety of applications, such as building envelopes, containers, and vehicles. This perspective describes the principle and applications of various PDRC strategies and analyzes the cost, and economic and environmental consequences. Potential challenges and possible future directions are also discussed.

Type
Perspective
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society, 2020

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