A spectrally selective surface structure for combined photothermic conversion and radiative sky cooling

doi:10.1007/s11708-020-0694-z

Front. Energy

2020, Vol. 14

Issue (4) : 882-888 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-020-0694-z

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A spectrally selective surface structure for combined photothermic conversion and radiative sky cooling

Bin ZHAO¹, Xianze AO¹, Nuo CHEN¹, Qingdong XUAN¹, Mingke HU²(

), Gang PEI¹(

)

¹. Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
². Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; Institute of Sustainable Energy Technology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

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Abstract

The sun and outer space are the ultimate heat and cold sources for the earth, respectively. They have significant potential for renewable energy harvesting. In this paper, a spectrally selective surface structure that has a planar polydimethylsiloxane layer covering a solar absorber is conceptually proposed and optically designed for the combination of photothermic conversion (PT) and nighttime radiative sky cooling (RC). An optical simulation is conducted whose result shows that the designed surface structure (i.e., PT-RC surface structure) has a strong solar absorption coefficient of 0.92 and simultaneously emits as a mid-infrared spectral-selective emitter with an average emissivity of 0.84 within the atmospheric window. A thermal analysis prediction reveals that the designed PT-RC surface structure can be heated to 79.1°C higher than the ambient temperature in the daytime and passively cooled below the ambient temperature of approximately 10°C in the nighttime, indicating that the designed PT-RC surface structure has the potential for integrated PT conversion and nighttime RC utilization.

Keywords solar energy photothermic conversion radiative sky cooling spectral selectivity multilayer film

Corresponding Author(s): Mingke HU,Gang PEI

Online First Date: 08 September 2020 Issue Date: 21 December 2020

Cite this article:

Bin ZHAO,Xianze AO,Nuo CHEN, et al. A spectrally selective surface structure for combined photothermic conversion and radiative sky cooling[J]. Front. Energy, 2020, 14(4): 882-888.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/10.1007/s11708-020-0694-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/Y2020/V14/I4/882

Fig.1 Schematic of PT-RC hybrid utilization and spectral requirement of the ideal PT-RC surface structure.

Fig.2 Schematic of the proposed PT-RC surface structure and complex refractive index of related material.

Tab.1 Thickness of each layer of the designed PT-RC surface structure

Fig.3 Optimized spectral response of the designed PT-RC surface structure.

Fig.4 Spectral absorptivity/emissivity of designed PT-RC surface structure with different PDMS layer thicknesses.

Fig.5 Schematic of the heat transfer process of the PT-RC surface structure.

Fig.6 Predicted temperature of PT-RC surface structure (red curve) at a 24-h circle, with ambient temperature (black curve) and solar radiation power (blue curve), plotted as references.

Fig.7 Performance comparison of designed PT-RC surface structure, ideal PT-RC surface structure, and blackbody surface.

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