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Terrestrial radiative cooling: Using the cold universe as a renewable and sustainable energy source

Journal Article · · Science
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.; Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.; OSTI
  2. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
  3. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

Photonic materials designed at wavelength scales have enabled a range of emerging energy technologies, from solid-state lighting to efficient photovoltaics that have transformed global energy landscapes. Daytime passive radiative cooling materials shed heat from the ground to the cold universe by taking advantage of the terrestrial thermal radiation that is as large as the renewable solar energy. Newly developed photonic materials permit subambient cooling under direct sunshine, and their applications are expanding rapidly enabled by scalable manufacturing. We review here the recent advancement of daytime subambient radiative cooling materials, which allow energy-efficient cooling and are paving the way toward technologies that harvest the coldness from the universe as a new renewable energy source.

Research Organization:
Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-07ER46426
OSTI ID:
1849781
Journal Information:
Science, Journal Name: Science Journal Issue: 6518 Vol. 370; ISSN 0036-8075
Publisher:
AAAS
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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