High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance

We present a radiative cooling material capable of enhancing albedo while reducing ground surface temperatures beneath fielded bifacial solar panels. Electrospinning a layer of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers, or nanoPAN, onto a polymer-coated silver mirror yields a total solar reflectance of 99 %, an...

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Main Authors: Kim Hannah, Gao Yiwei, Moran Ethan, Howle Annyn, McSherry Sean, Cira Spencer, Lenert Andrej
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2023-12-01
Series:Nanophotonics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2023-0611
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author Kim Hannah
Gao Yiwei
Moran Ethan
Howle Annyn
McSherry Sean
Cira Spencer
Lenert Andrej
author_facet Kim Hannah
Gao Yiwei
Moran Ethan
Howle Annyn
McSherry Sean
Cira Spencer
Lenert Andrej
author_sort Kim Hannah
collection DOAJ
description We present a radiative cooling material capable of enhancing albedo while reducing ground surface temperatures beneath fielded bifacial solar panels. Electrospinning a layer of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers, or nanoPAN, onto a polymer-coated silver mirror yields a total solar reflectance of 99 %, an albedo of 0.96, and a thermal emittance of 0.80. The combination of high albedo and high emittance is enabled by wavelength-selective scattering induced by the hierarchical morphology of nanoPAN, which includes both thin fibers and bead-like structures. During outdoor testing, the material outperforms the radiative cooling power of a state-of-the-art control by ∼20 W/m2 and boosts the photocurrent produced by a commercial silicon cell by up to 6.4 mA/cm2 compared to sand. These experiments validate essential characteristics of a high-albedo radiative-cooling reflector with promising potential applications in thermal and light management of fielded bifacial panels.
format Article
id doaj-art-914549cecc7e463a8f2ce5ed26aeca34
institution OA Journals
issn 2192-8614
language English
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publisher De Gruyter
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series Nanophotonics
spelling doaj-art-914549cecc7e463a8f2ce5ed26aeca342025-08-20T01:53:26ZengDe GruyterNanophotonics2192-86142023-12-0113562162710.1515/nanoph-2023-0611High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performanceKim Hannah0Gao Yiwei1Moran Ethan2Howle Annyn3McSherry Sean4Cira Spencer5Lenert Andrej6University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USAWe present a radiative cooling material capable of enhancing albedo while reducing ground surface temperatures beneath fielded bifacial solar panels. Electrospinning a layer of polyacrylonitrile nanofibers, or nanoPAN, onto a polymer-coated silver mirror yields a total solar reflectance of 99 %, an albedo of 0.96, and a thermal emittance of 0.80. The combination of high albedo and high emittance is enabled by wavelength-selective scattering induced by the hierarchical morphology of nanoPAN, which includes both thin fibers and bead-like structures. During outdoor testing, the material outperforms the radiative cooling power of a state-of-the-art control by ∼20 W/m2 and boosts the photocurrent produced by a commercial silicon cell by up to 6.4 mA/cm2 compared to sand. These experiments validate essential characteristics of a high-albedo radiative-cooling reflector with promising potential applications in thermal and light management of fielded bifacial panels.https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2023-0611radiative coolingground albedobifacialphotovoltaics
spellingShingle Kim Hannah
Gao Yiwei
Moran Ethan
Howle Annyn
McSherry Sean
Cira Spencer
Lenert Andrej
High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance
Nanophotonics
radiative cooling
ground albedo
bifacial
photovoltaics
title High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance
title_full High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance
title_fullStr High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance
title_full_unstemmed High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance
title_short High albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial PV performance
title_sort high albedo daytime radiative cooling for enhanced bifacial pv performance
topic radiative cooling
ground albedo
bifacial
photovoltaics
url https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2023-0611
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AT moranethan highalbedodaytimeradiativecoolingforenhancedbifacialpvperformance
AT howleannyn highalbedodaytimeradiativecoolingforenhancedbifacialpvperformance
AT mcsherrysean highalbedodaytimeradiativecoolingforenhancedbifacialpvperformance
AT ciraspencer highalbedodaytimeradiativecoolingforenhancedbifacialpvperformance
AT lenertandrej highalbedodaytimeradiativecoolingforenhancedbifacialpvperformance