Reflecting Heat with Mirrors?

Engineers at Stanford University have come up with a radical coating material that can help in keeping buildings cool, even when the sun is beating down on your neighborhood’s collective roof space, by turning away the sun’s rays much like a mirror would.

The revolutionary breakthrough involves an ultrathin material that can cope with both visible and invisible light in new ways.

Invisible light that results in infrared radiation is the kind of energy we sense when standing in front of a hot oven. We can feel the heat, even if we aren’t touching anything. This is one form of light – or heat, really – that Stanford’s new material can reflect away from structures and back into space.

Visible light – such as sunshine – can also be reflected away by the material, which acts like a mirror. Nearly all of the sunshine that hits the material winds up bouncing back into space.

By installing the material on the roof of a house, a homeowner could offload unwanted heat from the structure while keeping the heat from sunlight at bay, as well. The result would be a home that could be significantly cooled, reducing the need for massive air conditioning systems.

Not that air conditioning is going away anytime soon. Far from it. As the engineers see it, this development could be a win-win for many different kinds of power users: "Across the developing world, photonic radiative cooling makes off-grid cooling a possibility in rural regions, in addition to meeting skyrocketing demand for air conditioning in urban areas," said one.

What that likely means for average homeowners is a material that, once commercially developed, would reduce the power draw of an air conditioning system, which would still be advantageous to run in most areas of America where air conditioning is already installed.

In other words, this new substance, no thicker than a sheet of aluminum foil, stands to enhance your use and enjoyment of air conditioning, rather than replacing it. Lower uses of power would benefit everyone, especially during peak times. And those who would require more air conditioning power – because of the size of a structure or its location – would likely be in a better position to call upon that energy, as well.

Questions about the most efficient air conditioning system for your needs? Contact an AC World specialist today!