Color-preserving passive radiative cooling for an actively temperature-regulated enclosure

Abstract

Active temperature control devices are widely used for the thermal management of enclosures, including vehicles and buildings. Passive radiative cooling has been extensively studied; however, its integration with existing actively temperature regulated and decorative enclosures has slipped out of the research at status quo. Here, we present a photonic-engineered dual-side thermal management strategy for reducing the active power consumption of the existing temperature-regulated enclosure without sacrificing its aesthetics. By coating the exterior and interior of the enclosure roof with two visible-transparent films with distinctive wavelength-selectivity, simultaneous control over the energy exchange among the enclosure with the hot sun, the cold outer space, the atmosphere, and the active cooler can be implemented. A power-saving of up to 63% for active coolers of the enclosure is experimentally demonstrated by measuring the heat flux compared to the ordinary enclosure when the set temperature is around 26°C. This photonic-engineered dual-side thermal management strategy offers facile integration with the existing enclosures and represents a new paradigm toward carbon neutrality.

High-Q Absorption in All-Dielectric Photonics Assisted by Metamirrors

“…Moreover, this design paradigm for high-Q all-dielectric absorption can be extended to other frequencies by substituting Ge with other low-loss materials such as Ge–Sb–Te alloy (mid-infrared) and doped-Si (THz), potentially enabling monochromatic light sources and photodetectors with high spectral resolution. Finally, we believe that engineering Q -factors in absorbing all-dielectric photonics suggests avenues for enhanced properties of nanophotonic devices , and has implications in thermal management, − sensing, lasing, and nonlinear optics …”

Scalable Colored Sub-Ambient Radiative Coolers Based on a Polymer-Tamm Photonic Structure

“…5 A variety of DRCs have been demonstrated, which are promising for potential applications in energy-efficient buildings, 6 photovoltaic modules, 7 and personal thermal management. 8 However, the majority of the proposed DRC materials exhibit white or metallic colors for guaranteeing a strong reflection of the solar irradiance, 9 which is unfavorable to some application scenarios and installation locations such as building envelopes 10 and vehicles 11 with aesthetic purposes and potentially leads to light pollution and eye safety issues.…”

Low‐Cost and Large‐Scale Producible Biomimetic Radiative Cooling Glass with Multiband Radiative Regulation Performance

“…Several recent studies have focused on energy-saving strategies for transparent windows. [49][50][51][52][53] Cheng et al [49] proposed a cheap, scalable, and easy-to-prepare liquid coating for radiative cooling, which could achieve superhigh visible transmissivity and ultra-high infrared emissivity within the atmospheric window; the coating exhibited a maximum cooling power of 108 W m −2 . Kim et al [50] proposed a transparent radiative cooler that could partly transmit visible radiation, reflect partial nearinfrared (NIR) light (0.74 µm < λ < 1.4 µm), and radiate thermal energy through the atmospheric window.…”

“…During daytime, this cooler could provide a maximum self and interior temperature reduction of 10.1 and 14.4 °C, respectively, compared with a transparent selective emitter. Qiu et al [51] presented a photonic-engineered energy-saving strategy for the color-preservation and cooling of buildings, and an energy conservation rate of 63% was confirmed for the active refrigerating machines of an envelopment when the set temperature was approximately 26 °C. The above studies have promoted the development of energy-saving technologies for buildings and achieved admirable results.…”