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Stanford scientists develop new type of solar structure
- goldfeld 14y agoI clicked through because I thought they had developed a new structure of solar systems.
- stcredzero 14y agoIt's pretty exciting. As an energy saving device in hot climates, it can have a larger impact per square meter than the equivalent in solar panels -- all while being cheaper to buy and maintain.
- stcredzero 14y agoThis sound like it would be awesome for Burning Man.
- spenrose 14y agoThese accomplishments are huge, even historic, when they come in pairs. The second half of the pair is broad deployment.
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- wlesieutre 14y agoThe new device is capable of achieving a net cooling power in excess of 100 watts per square meter. By comparison, today's standard 10-percent-efficient solar panels generate about the same amount of power. That means Fan's radiative cooling panels could theoretically be substituted on rooftops where existing solar panels feed electricity to air conditioning systems needed to cool the building. This isn't quite true. The electrically powered cooling system is likely driven by a heat pump with a coefficient of performance of around 3.5, meaning that it moves 3.5 times as much heat from inside to outside as it consumes electrical power. If they can manufacture this for significantly cheaper than solar panels they might catch on, but it doesn't sound like the performance is competitive. I doubt the savings from a smaller AC system will be enough to make it viable.
- Gravityloss 14y agoInteresting that such structures don't exist in nature yet? You'd imagine they could be useful in some desert organisms for example? Maybe they'd cool too much during the night.
- JoeAltmaier 14y agoMaybe butterfly wings? Maybe tree bark? Who knows, who studies the cooling properties of materials in nature.
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