Passive Radiative Cooling

Engineering materials that can self-cool below ambient (air) temperatures in broad daylight. Interestingly, this passive radiative cooling does not require any electricity or water. This counterintuitive phenomenon is explained by Physics. In nature, Saharan silver ants makes use of passive radiative cooling to keep their bodies cool in hot desert climates. In this workshop, I will explain the intricacies of the underlying Physics, and talk about various schemes including PARCs metamaterials approach to engineering self-cooling films. Potential applications of this technology include, but not limited to, cooling of buildings, power plant, car rooftops, spacecraft, food and medical supplies.