• Energy Research

Abstract Thermochromic smart windows and radiative coolers are two passive cooling technologies, whose adoption as windows and roofs, respectively, is feasible for building energy-saving. However, to the authors' knowledge, the investigation of annual energy performance incorporating both techniques is scarce at the time of writing. Therefore, a passive hybrid system involving both technologies is proposed in this study. A perovskite thermochromic smart window and three different radiative coolers were chosen based on their superior performance. The energy performance of the passive hybrid system in a prototypical medium-sized office building was simulated using EnergyPlus and the results were rigorously analyzed. Both thermochromic smart window and radiative cooler could reduce total energy consumptions by up to 10.6% and 23.0%, respectively, regardless of building's year of completion, while the synergic system saved up to 32.0%. Among the chosen cities of various climates, thermochromic smart windows and radiative coolers perform better in cities where cooling demand dominates. The west- and east-facing thermochromic smart windows could mitigate more energy usage in contrast to the other orientations. If this passive hybrid system can be offered at a reasonable cost, the technology is likely to be a viable energy-efficient option for buildings.

Abstract Cost reduction and enhanced cooling performance are strongly demanded for daytime passive radiative cooling due to its attractive cooling strategy that does not require any energy input. Its potential application varies widely from air conditioning systems for buildings, photovoltaic cells, electronic device cooling and automobiles. However, recently proposed daytime passive radiative coolers are based on photonic structures which are high in cost. A relatively cheap metal oxide material, TiO2, which lowers the cost but is highly emissive in the mid-infrared range has been used, also improving the cooling performance of the photonic daytime passive radiative cooler. An optimized TiO2–SiO2 alternating multi-layered photonic daytime radiative cooler with average emissivity of 0.84 within 8–13 μm while reflecting 94% of incident solar energy is developed. Its net cooling power is estimated to be 136.3 W/m2 at ambient air temperature of 27 °C which shows an improvement of 90 W/m2 compared to that of the HfO2-SiO2 photonic radiative cooler. Last, a field test has been conducted in Hong Kong's subtropical climate (i.e. relative humidity = 60–70%) to investigate its feasibility, and with the help of solar shading, successfully demonstrated temperature reduction of 7.2 °C with a net cooling power of 14.3 W/m2 under direct sunlight.

In order to continuously develop the special airfoil for wind turbine and further improve the energy efficiency of wind turbine, based on the bionic airfoil Dol-Rot 24° that was proposed by the streamline contour of the Phocoenoides Dalli, another novel bionic airfoil is constructed combined with the lever movement shape of the dolphin skeleton, and the airfoil is named Dol-Rot 24°-2. For the cross section of NREL phase VI horizontal axis wind turbine blade (S809 airfoil), Dol-Rot 24°, and Dol-Rot 24°-2 are adopted and numerically simulated to quantitatively analyze from both aspects of aerodynamic performance and noise characteristics. Using the above two novel airfoils profiles, two 3D bionic blades named Dol-Blade-1 and Dol-Blade-2 suitable for NREL phase VI HAWT are established. The results show that: compared with S809 airfoil, Dol-Rot 24°-2 airfoil can greatly improve the lift coefficient, while Dol-Rot 24° airfoil can more effectively inhibit the flow separation on the suction surface. In terms of noise characteristics, compared with S809 airfoil, the noise of the two types of dolphin airfoils does not increase significantly. In addition, Dol-Blade-1 can comprehensively improve the low-speed shaft torque of the blade, while the load of the wind turbine hardly changes. The low-speed shaft torque of Dol-Blade-2 is even better than that of Dol-Blade-1. However, the blade root bending moment of Dol-Blade-2 increases obviously, which inevitably increases the load of the wind turbine. In this paper, the new bionic method is proposed to improve the wind energy utilization of wind turbine on the premise of strictly controlling the aerodynamic noise and load level of blade. The research results of this paper can provide a reference for the optimization of energy efficiency and noise research of NREL phase VI HAWT.

202407 bcch ; Accepted Manuscript ; RGC ; Published ; Green (AAM)