Heat transfer is a complex phenomenon where all the objects around us radiate thermal radiation, and from a macroscopic point of view these are partially reflected and absorbed by the atmosphere and the other part of them escape into colder outer space at specific wavelengths. Over the past few years, a Stanford research team has been working on 'radiant cooling' technology and recently they have developed an upgraded version of the technology that uses solar panel-like equipment to cool water and buildings, No need to provide any electricity.
The research team's 'radiant cooling' technology already existed as early as 2013, and the recently announced new program incorporates energy research that will allow the system to function without additional power. It is understood that the system can heat The radiation was extracted from the building and converted to a certain wavelength for launching into space, directly ignoring the Earth's atmosphere, and in order to withstand the heat radiation from the sun, the research team also coated the main equipment of the system with multilayer optics The film, which reflects 97% of the sun's light, does not affect the normal heat rejection of the system, even in the hot sun.
In the concept product demonstration, researchers used a 8-foot (about 20 cm) wide wafer of material as the primary device for the system, keeping its surface temperature low and then covering the top of the solar cell panel Can also collect electricity.
Afterwards, the researchers expanded the system to cool the tap water by using it in the water pipes of the building, where the team placed four panels of reflective material on the roof and the water in the water pipe quickly passed through the pipe below the panel, Days above the water temperature is below the ambient air 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.
In addition, the researchers cooled the two-story office using cooling panels in a hot, dry climate in Las Vegas, cooling the system by more than 20% over the entire summer, And saved about 14.3 MWh of electricity.
To continue the project, researchers created a company called SkyCoolSystems, which is now integrating panels into air conditioning and refrigeration systems, and one of the major uses in the long term is to cool the data center, the study was published in the near term Nature Energy (NatureEnergy) magazine.
