On Monday, the institute said Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have designed an affordable and efficient ‘passive’ radiative cooling system that does not require electricity to operate and can provide an alternative to conventional air-conditioners.
This ‘Radiative Cooler’ coating material is an electricity-free cooling system as it can be applied on rooftops and functions both day and night.
Passive radiative cooling systems operate by emitting the heat absorbed from the surrounding in the form of infrared radiations that can pass through the atmosphere before getting dumped into the cold outer space.
“For a radiative cooler to work during the daytime, the material should reflect the solar and atmospheric radiations falling on it. Since the materials used in conventional coolers absorb more solar radiation and emit less during the day, they do not work during the daytime. While daytime cooling can be achieved using polymer-based passive radiative coolers, oxidation degrades the polymers resulting in a limited lifespan,” explained Ashish Kumar Chowdhary, a research scholar at IIT Guwahati.
