The fight against the heat, leaves an important footprint in the energy bill. The united states, about 6% of all electricity produced in the country is intended to reduce the temperature of homes and offices via air conditioning. This consumption, translated into figures, it represents a cost of 29,000 million dollars a year, without counting the incalculable impact on the environment. A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has given you with a product that drastically reduces the need to turn on the air conditioning.
The researchers have been proposed to face the problem of the heat from different light: instead of giving fight to face once you have already accessed the home, have been proposed to prevent the interior of houses arrive to heat up as a result of the direct or indirect action of the sun through the windows, the main route of access of solar heat. It is here where researchers have endeavoured to find a smart way to avoid overheating the stay in the summer without limiting the entrance of the sun in winter. That is to say, take advantage of the best of the sun when it is most needed and avoid flushing when not necessary.
The film created in the MIT reacts to the heat of a hand.
The problem has been dealt with a transparent film that adheres to windows and that allows the passage of the rays while the outside temperature is 32 degrees. Above this temperature, the film prevents the heat rejecting solar rays. The best thing about this system is that it works in a totally autonomous and without need of human intervention, or any kind of connection to any system.
The film, once adhered to the windows, is able to block 70% of solar heat, saving on air conditioning. The team of researchers estimated that a building with this film stuck to the windows, could reduce your power consumption around 10%. Although the figure does not seem dramatic, large-scale, and considering that operate autonomously, the benefit can be considerable.
How exactly does the development of the MIT? The film includes some sensitive areas that contain water and, when they reach the film to a temperature of 32 degrees celsius, the spheres are compressed causing the same effect as the steam and making the opaque part of the window. Unlike other smart windows that face the heat by changing the color and reducing the entry of light, this development barely reduce the luminosity of the rooms and at a cost that is likely much lower.
The team of researchers at MIT is now tweaking the formula to see if they can improve the heat reduction. Even though the product is far from being marketed, it is a boot very hopeful, since the materials used are very common and can be used without problems in the processes of manufacture of the windows.
