- #1
lostminty
- 82
- 0
I've been thinking about this on and off for awhile now. It first started with the idea of a solar trap.
Solar trap being something like having a solar collector focusing light on a container of water, having an infra red barrier around the container, and a black body at the centre. Incoming solar energy passes by the IR reflector, absorbed by the black body and re-emitted as radiation which is reflected by the IR reflector.
I was pleasantly surprised some form of this technique is used in the high efficiency solar water heaters.
So what stops one doing this in reverse? having a visible reflector, IR transmitting layer.
Could this allow solar cooling during the day? It would of course depend on the net flux of radiation, perhaps looking at natural sunlight spectrum there maybe a band strongly absorbed by the atmosphere that is within the range put out by a black body.
Solar trap being something like having a solar collector focusing light on a container of water, having an infra red barrier around the container, and a black body at the centre. Incoming solar energy passes by the IR reflector, absorbed by the black body and re-emitted as radiation which is reflected by the IR reflector.
I was pleasantly surprised some form of this technique is used in the high efficiency solar water heaters.
So what stops one doing this in reverse? having a visible reflector, IR transmitting layer.
Could this allow solar cooling during the day? It would of course depend on the net flux of radiation, perhaps looking at natural sunlight spectrum there maybe a band strongly absorbed by the atmosphere that is within the range put out by a black body.