Hefty AC Bill? Naturally Cooling, Electricity-Free Panels Might Do The Trick
Image via SkyCool Systems
It’s a vicious cycle. As global warming continues to produce record-high temperatures and heatwaves across the world, more users turn to air conditioning to save themselves from the sweltering outdoors. But the air conditioning then emits greenhouses gases, only making the larger problem worse.
SkyCool Systems, a company founded in 2016, aims to deliver us from this cycle. With a vision to develop a cooling system that doesn’t require electricity, its technology hopes to reduce energy costs both financial and environmental. It’s doing this by drawing inspiration straight from the source: planet Earth.
This technology works with rooftop panels made using optical film, which radiates infrared light and is simultaneously self-cooling. Although they look just like solar panels, these work the total opposite way: rather than draw in energy from the Sun, they reflect it, while cooling the surface below.
According to the company, the panels’ temperature can drop by up to 15°F without needing any electricity. It works similar to this ‘Cooling Paper’, also meant to lower temperatures in houses when applied to roofs.
Below the panels sits a pipe network, which is filled with water. Kept chilly by the panels, the liquid flows into a refrigeration or air conditioning system, producing the coolness we all desire. And since the panels cool naturally without the use of an external power source, the entire system uses much less electricity.
Even when compared to solar panels, the SkyCool panels have a leg up: they claim to save two to three times as much energy as a solar panel of the same area generates. If solar panels were eco-friendly, these are sort of friendlier. They don’t need to be south-facing, either, so the two types of panels can sit side by side on any roof.
The technology has been tested in a Grocery Outlet store in Stockton, California. The location has been using the panels since last year, and store manager Jesus Valenzuela tells CNN Business that its electricity bill has dropped since.
“After we had our SkyCool system installed, our electricity company increased their rates on us,” he explains. “We actually didn’t see our bill go up at all. In fact, we saw it go just a little bit down.” He also approximates that the panels save his store around US$3,000 a month.
Eli Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of SkyCool, says in a statement that the company is working to install its systems in commercial settings, such as large supermarket chains and refrigerated warehouses. Perhaps it will come to residences soon, too.
[via CNN, image via SkyCool Systems]
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