

Stanford scientists develop new type of solar structure - kumarski
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/april/fan-solar-cooling-041513.html

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wlesieutre
_The 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.

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spenrose
These accomplishments are huge, even historic, when they come in pairs. The
second half of the pair is broad deployment.

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Gravityloss
Interesting 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.

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JoeAltmaier
Maybe butterfly wings? Maybe tree bark? Who knows, who studies the cooling
properties of materials in nature.

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stcredzero
This sound like it would be awesome for Burning Man.

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goldfeld
I clicked through because I thought they had developed a new structure of
solar systems.

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stcredzero
It'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.

