Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar Reflectivity
Radiative cooling is a natural process to cool down surfaces through the rejection of thermal radiation using the outer space as a cold sink, taking advantage of the transparency of the atmospheric windows (8–14 μm), which partially matches the infrared radiation band. With the development of new ma...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/9/1119 |
| _version_ | 1797520267214323712 |
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| author | Roger Vilà Marc Medrano Albert Castell |
| author_facet | Roger Vilà Marc Medrano Albert Castell |
| author_sort | Roger Vilà |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Radiative cooling is a natural process to cool down surfaces through the rejection of thermal radiation using the outer space as a cold sink, taking advantage of the transparency of the atmospheric windows (8–14 μm), which partially matches the infrared radiation band. With the development of new materials that have a high reflectivity of solar radiation, daytime radiative cooling can be achieved. This phenomenon depends on the optical properties of the surface and the local weather conditions. In this research, climatological data from 1791 weather stations were used to present detailed nighttime and all-day radiative cooling maps for the potential implementation of radiative cooling-based technologies. The paper offers a parametric study of the variation of the potential as a result of decreasing the solar reflectivity. The results show that southern Europe is the region with the highest potential while northern Europe holds more hours of available radiative cooling. After varying the solar reflectivity from 1 to 0.5 the average power reduces from 60.18 to 45.32 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and energy from 527.10 to 264.87 kWh/m<sup>2</sup>·year. For solar reflectivity lower than 0.5, all-day radiative coolers behave as nighttime radiative coolers, but power and energy values improve significantly for high values of solar reflectivity. Small variations of solar reflectivity have greater impacts on the potential at higher reflectivity values than at lower ones. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:54:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-96c121fc94ad41248e9146470f3cb646 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:54:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-96c121fc94ad41248e9146470f3cb6462023-11-22T11:59:31ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332021-08-01129111910.3390/atmos12091119Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar ReflectivityRoger Vilà0Marc Medrano1Albert Castell2Sustainable Energy, Machinery and Buildings (SEMB) Research Group, INSPIRES Research Centre, Universitat de Lleida, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, SpainSustainable Energy, Machinery and Buildings (SEMB) Research Group, INSPIRES Research Centre, Universitat de Lleida, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, SpainSustainable Energy, Machinery and Buildings (SEMB) Research Group, INSPIRES Research Centre, Universitat de Lleida, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, SpainRadiative cooling is a natural process to cool down surfaces through the rejection of thermal radiation using the outer space as a cold sink, taking advantage of the transparency of the atmospheric windows (8–14 μm), which partially matches the infrared radiation band. With the development of new materials that have a high reflectivity of solar radiation, daytime radiative cooling can be achieved. This phenomenon depends on the optical properties of the surface and the local weather conditions. In this research, climatological data from 1791 weather stations were used to present detailed nighttime and all-day radiative cooling maps for the potential implementation of radiative cooling-based technologies. The paper offers a parametric study of the variation of the potential as a result of decreasing the solar reflectivity. The results show that southern Europe is the region with the highest potential while northern Europe holds more hours of available radiative cooling. After varying the solar reflectivity from 1 to 0.5 the average power reduces from 60.18 to 45.32 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and energy from 527.10 to 264.87 kWh/m<sup>2</sup>·year. For solar reflectivity lower than 0.5, all-day radiative coolers behave as nighttime radiative coolers, but power and energy values improve significantly for high values of solar reflectivity. Small variations of solar reflectivity have greater impacts on the potential at higher reflectivity values than at lower ones.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/9/1119radiative coolingnighttime radiative coolingdaytime radiative coolingall-day radiative coolingcooling potentialpotential maps |
| spellingShingle | Roger Vilà Marc Medrano Albert Castell Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar Reflectivity Atmosphere radiative cooling nighttime radiative cooling daytime radiative cooling all-day radiative cooling cooling potential potential maps |
| title | Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar Reflectivity |
| title_full | Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar Reflectivity |
| title_fullStr | Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar Reflectivity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar Reflectivity |
| title_short | Mapping Nighttime and All-Day Radiative Cooling Potential in Europe and the Influence of Solar Reflectivity |
| title_sort | mapping nighttime and all day radiative cooling potential in europe and the influence of solar reflectivity |
| topic | radiative cooling nighttime radiative cooling daytime radiative cooling all-day radiative cooling cooling potential potential maps |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/9/1119 |
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