Perspectives on the Applications of Radiative Cooling in Buildings and Electric Cars

Abstract

Cooling energy consumption is a major contributor to various sectors in hot climates with a significant number of warm days throughout the year. Buildings account for 40% of total energy consumption, with approximately ∼30–40% of that used for cooling in geographical areas such as Iran. Energy demand for cooling is an important factor in the overall energy efficiency of electric mobility. Electric vehicles (EVs) consume ∼30–50% of energy for the air conditioning (AC) system. Therefore, the efficient management of the cooling demand is essential in implementing energy-saving strategies. Passive radiative cooling is capable of providing subambient cooling without consuming any energy. This article reviews potential applications of passive radiative cooling in reducing cooling energy for buildings. It also provides a rough estimate of the amount of energy saved when applying a radiative cool roof to a model building. It is shown that by using radiative cool materials on roofs, the share of electricity usage for cooling can be reduced to 10%, leading to a reduction in cooling load by 90%. Additionally, the potential use of radiative cool coats of various types for different EV components, such as shell/body, windows, and fabrics, is introduced. Although the prospects of the design and engineering of radiative cooling products appear promising for both buildings and EVs, further investigations are necessary to evaluate scalability, durability, and performance based on factors such as geography and meteorology.