GUWAHATI: Researchers of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati have designed an affordable and efficient cooler that does not need electricity to operate. This ‘Radiative Cooler’ coating material is an ‘electricity-free’ cooling system as it can be applied on the rooftops and functions both during day and night time to provide an alternate to the conventional air-conditioners.
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.
Ashish Kumar Chowdhary, Research Scholar at IIT Guwahati under the supervision of Debabrata Sikdar, Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, along with his research team have designed and modelled such a passive radiative cooler.
The theoretical design of the radiative cooling system is tested and verified against rigorous computer-based simulations. This patterning-free design of radiative cooler is large-area compatible and hence, also less prone to imperfections during fabrication process.
Debabrata Sikdar said, “These radiative coolers requiring no external energy sources for their operation could be one of the best alternatives to replace the conventional air conditioning systems used to cool buildings and automobiles in countries experiencing hot weather, such as India. Unlike traditional cooling technologies that dump the waste heat into the surroundings, radiative cooling is a unique process that cools an object on the earth by sending excessive heat directly into the extremely cold Universe.”