Can Air Conditioning Costs be Reduced by Sending Heat to Space?

[AndrewBrito]

Air conditioning has become a part and parcel of our daily life and it is difficult to imagine life without it especially during the summer season. Here is a brief summary of how these machines work.
Air conditioners make use of a refrigerant which is in the form of a liquid. This refrigerant sucks the warmth from the room in the inside unit and then flows to the unit installed on the outside. Upon receiving heat, this liquid becomes a warm gas but turns back to its liquid form when cooled down. It doesn’t take a genius to know that a high amount of energy is needed for this process. Everyone enjoys sitting in an air-conditioned room but when you see the electricity bill you understand how costly it is.
Surely there is a way through which you can get the cooling without having to spend too much on electric bills. Experts believe that radiative sky cooling might just be that way.
Radiative Sky Cooling – What is It?
Physics tells us that in Space, the temperature can plummet below -200°C and can climb up to 150°C when directly facing the Sun. This incredible oscillation of temperature in Space is down to the lack of atmosphere which is responsible for temperature regulation. This is what happens on Earth. The Earth’s atmosphere ensures that the temperature of our planet remain in between 50°C and -50°C.
The sun’s heat has been put to use by people with the help of solar panels which create electricity by heating water and then converting the resulting power. However, Space’s coolness hasn’t been harnessed, thus far. Can it be done?
How Can I Lower the Temperature in My Home Using Radiative Sky Cooling?
A team of electrical engineers headed by Shanhui Fan, a professor from Stanford, is trying to develop a system which is capable of harnessing radiative sky cooling and utilizing it for lowering the temperature in homes and buildings.
This system makes use of roof panels which contain vascularised tubes in them. These tubes have water running in them. The panel’s surface has a covering of optical film capable of reflecting the Sun’s heat and absorbing the radiative sky cooling. This absorbed cooling lowers the temperature of the water which is sent back into the house/building where it cools down the room’s temperature. The water is circulated back to the roof once it heats up where it is transferred to the panel and is then emitted out into space.
Since it relies on the exchange of energy with the sky, no energy input is required to make this cooling method work.
SkyCool Systems is the name of the company founded by this team. The utilization of their system into commercial refrigerators and air conditioners is one of the plans of this company regarding ducted air conditioning brisbane. Moreover, they feel that data centres can use this system for cooling their server rooms.
Can This Cooling Technology Cut Costs?
One of the pluses of this system is that it doesn’t need electricity. An estimated 20% to 50% energy can be saved on a daily basis using this groundbreaking air conditioning system, reducing out electricity bills by a considerable margin. However, you will have to wait till the system starts being mass produced. Moreover, installation of such a system would be quite expensive. However, research results indicate that this investment would be recouped pretty quickly.
The Final Word
We have already successfully harnessed the energy of the Sun, water and wind. However, can we make use of the space’s coolness? A team of electrical engineers headed by Shanhui Fan, a Stanford professor, has found the answer to this question. They have succeeded in designing panels coated with an optical film capable of absorbing radiative sky cooling and reflecting almost 95% of the heat of the Sun. Their system was able to lower the temperature of a Las Vegas building and only needed between 20% to 50% energy required for cooling.
This air conditioning method offers other advantages too as it is both eco-friendly and runs on a renewable energy source. It might seem like a thing out of a sci-fi movie but it actually is real.