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Title: Radiative sky cooling: fundamental physics, materials, structures, and applications

Journal Article · · Nanophotonics (Online)
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3]
  1. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Network for Photovoltaic Technology, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  2. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Network for Photovoltaic Technology, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center
  3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Network for Photovoltaic Technology, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center

Radiative sky cooling reduces the temperature of a system by promoting heat exchange with the sky; its key advantage is that no input energy is required. We will review the origins of radiative sky cooling from ancient times to the modern day, and illustrate how the fundamental physics of radiative cooling calls for a combination of properties that may not occur in bulk materials. A detailed comparison with recent modeling and experiments on nanophotonic structures will then illustrate the advantages of this recently emerging approach. Potential applications of these radiative cooling materials to a variety of temperature-sensitive optoelectronic devices, such as photovoltaics, thermophotovoltaics, rectennas, and infrared detectors, will then be discussed. This review will conclude by forecasting the prospects for the field as a whole in both terrestrial and space-based systems.

Research Organization:
Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0004946
OSTI ID:
1424949
Journal Information:
Nanophotonics (Online), Vol. 6, Issue 5; ISSN 2192-8614
Publisher:
de GruyterCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 117 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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A Multilayer Film Based Selective Thermal Emitter for Infrared Stealth Technology journal October 2018
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A polydimethylsiloxane-coated metal structure for all-day radiative cooling journal August 2019
Radiative cooling of solar cells: opto-electro-thermal physics and modeling journal January 2019
Device physics underlying silicon heterojunction and passivating-contact solar cells: A topical review
  • Chavali, Raghu V. K.; De Wolf, Stefaan; Alam, Muhammad A.
  • Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 26, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.2959
journal January 2018
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A Multilayer Emitter Close to Ideal Solar Reflectance for Efficient Daytime Radiative Cooling journal July 2019
Optical engineering of polymer materials and composites for simultaneous color and thermal management journal January 2019
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