Concentrated radiative cooling and its constraint from reciprocity

Concentrated radiative cooling, an analogous concept of the concentrated solar power technology, has the potential of amplifying both the cooling power and the temperature reduction. However, concentrators have not yet been systematically optimized. Moreover, a widely used theoretical approach to an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2022-01, Vol.30 (1), p.275-285
Main Authors: Dong, Minghao, Zhu, Linxiao, Jiang, Bo, Fan, Shanhui, Chen, Zhen
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Concentrated radiative cooling, an analogous concept of the concentrated solar power technology, has the potential of amplifying both the cooling power and the temperature reduction. However, concentrators have not yet been systematically optimized. Moreover, a widely used theoretical approach to analyze such systems has neglected a fundamental constraint from reciprocity, which can lead to an overestimate of cooling performance and unclarified limits of amplification factors. Here we develop a theoretical framework addressing these shortcomings. Modeling suggests the optimized shape and geometric dimensions of concentrators, as well as the limiting cooling power and temperature reduction. Using an electroplated Al O emitter and an optimized conical concentrator, we experimentally amplify the nighttime radiative cooling by 26%.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/OE.445544