Reflective coatings, membranes, shingles, and tiles, among other cool roof systems, have light-colored or darker "cool-colored" surfaces that cool homes by reflecting sunlight. These systems also emit some of the absorbed solar heat as thermal-infrared radiation. This heat is then reflected away from the surface in a natural process known as radiative cooling. Many cool-roof systems currently on the market suffer from several defaults. Primarily, they have the problem of radiating heat in the winter, which drives up heating bills.
A research team has created an all-season smart-roof covering to overcome this hurdle. The system works by keeping homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer without using natural gas or electricity. The study's findings lead to a ground-breaking technology that can revolutionize the Smart Homes Market by outperforming commercial cool-roof systems in terms of energy savings.
The all-season roof coating automatically adjusts from cold to warm depending on the outside air temperature. This is an all-in-one device that provides energy-free, emission-free air conditioning and heating.
The new material, known as TARC (Temperature-Adaptive Radiative Coating), can help save energy by automatically turning off radiative cooling in the winter and avoiding overcooling. The Heat Island Group previously ran over 100,000 building energy simulations to examine the benefits of cool walls and cool roofs across the United States. The team established a method to estimate TARC energy savings from those simulations.
TARC beats present roof coverings in 12 of the 15 climate zones, according to the researchers. Especially in locations with significant temperature differences between day and night (like the San Francisco Bay Area) or between winter and summer (like New York City).
TARC reflects about 75% of sunlight year-round, according to the researchers' measurements. However, its thermal emittance is considered high when the ambient temperature is warm (above 25 degrees). This leads to heat loss for the sky. This technology also has inherent thermal emittance that gives it the ability to adjust to low in cooler weather automatically. This helps with the retention of heat from solar absorption and indoor heating.
Researchers plan to develop TARC prototypes on an industrial scale in the near future. The idea would help them further test its performance as an efficient roof coating. They added that TARC might also act as a thermally protective coating to prolong battery life within devices like laptops and smartphones. Furthermore, it could also shield satellites and cars from extraordinarily high or low temperatures.
The average American family might save up to 10% on electricity with TARC installed. Temperature-regulating fabric for tents, greenhouse covers, and even caps and jackets might be made with it.