Passive Radiative Cooling Film

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Program:
OPEN 2018
Award:
$2,776,899
Location:
St. Paul, Minnesota
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
08/26/2019 - 11/25/2022

Technology Description:

3M will develop a film that passively radiates heat away from an engineered surface for use in cooling applications. Using a unique, weather resistant polymer composition, the team will improve the film’s ability to reflect sunlight and ultraviolet (UV) light, thus boosting performance while also increasing its lifespan. This film builds upon radiative cooling technology developed in prior ARPA-E awards to Stanford University and SkyCool Systems, a partner in this project. These cooling films are aimed at reducing electricity consumption for air conditioning, refrigeration systems, transportation, and data centers.

Potential Impact:

Low-cost, large-scale manufacturing of passive cooling films could lead to significant energy savings in applications including refrigeration, air conditioning, economizers, data centers, cooling towers, and transportation vehicles.

Security:

Reducing the energy required to cool buildings and vehicles will (1) lower the overall energy demand from the electrical grid, helping to stabilize demand, particularly late in the day, and (2) reduce energy imports from outside the U.S.

Environment:

Passive radiative cooling can reduce electricity consumption associated with cooling in buildings and electric vehicles. Decreasing electricity consumption in electric vehicles extends their driving range, which will encourage adoption of electric vehicles and reduce CO2 emissions.

Economy:

Cooling load reduction in buildings, vehicles, and other applications from the use of radiative coolers can result in significant energy cost savings. In addition, radiative coolers complement other renewable energy technologies, such as solar PV, and can reduce cooling load as solar PV output fades late in the day.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Marina Sofos
Project Contact:
Mr. Tim Hebrink
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
thebrink@mmm.com

Partners

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

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Release Date:
12/13/2017