
A new kind of metasurface uses the sun to clear foggy screens - rbanffy
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613302/a-new-kind-of-metasurface-uses-the-sun-to-clear-foggy-screens/
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undecisive
> raising the surface temperature of the glass by up to 10 °C.

That's interesting. I wonder how that will affect the car on a hot day?

Will it cause more heat (as the material is designed to encourage the
conversion of light into heat)?

Or will it reduce the heat (as most of the easily convertible wavelengths get
converted on the surface of the car, not on the dashboard)?

Or (as I suspect) will it have next to no effect either way?

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rbanffy
My guess is that it converts part of the incoming light into heat and radiates
that in both directions. The fraction of light that is absorbed inside the car
and then radiates, but don't radiate through the window, is smaller than it
would be if nothing was absorbed by the windshield, so I guess it'll be cooler
inside the car.

But nobody should trust my math in those matters (because I didn't do any)

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adrianN
I don't really see the application for windshields. It doesn't work in all
conditions, so you have to have a backup solution anyway. It increases the
temperature, so you'll likely have to run the AC harder in warm weather. And
defogging by turning on a light would require a pretty strong light to heat
the windshield.

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taneq
"To continue reading, enter your email address" \- No, thankyou.

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ljcn
Just turn javascript off.

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maartn
Where's the sun when it's foggy?

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dwighttk
I’m trying to recall a time when it was both sunny and my windshield was
foggy.

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rflrob
Happens to me often on cold dewy mornings. Plenty of moisture from the
overnight air, and it takes a while for the defogger to heat up, during which
time it sometimes feels as if it’s actively refogging my windshield.

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ape4
Is it recyclable.

