Theoretical study of a highly fault-tolerant and scalable adaptive radiative cooler

Abstract

Conventional static radiative coolers have an unadjustable cooling capacity, which often results in overcooling in low temperature environment. Therefore, there is a great need for an adaptive dynamic radiative cooler. However, such adaptive coolers usually require complex preparation processes. This paper proposes an adaptive radiative cooler based on a Fabry–Perot resonant cavity. By optimizing the structural parameters of the radiative cooler, this adaptive radiative cooler achieves a modulation rate of 0.909 in the atmospheric window band. The net radiative cooling performance difference between low and high temperatures is nearly eight times. Meanwhile, the device is easily prepared, has a high tolerance, and can effectively prevent W–VO2 oxidation. This study provides new insights into adaptive radiative cooling with potential for large-scale applications.

Keywords

• passive radiative cooling
• vanadium dioxide
• adaptive
• thermal emission
• thickness optimization