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Freedom251 › Blog › cool roofs

Can Film Printed by the Metre Cool Homes Without Electricity?

By Freedom251 Team · · 4 min read

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Yes—special radiative-cooling films can shed heat without electricity by reflecting sunlight and sending thermal infrared energy toward the sky. Research has demonstrated scalable printing and promising tests, including a model house, but it has not established that the specific film is a standard product homeowners can buy or that it will deliver the same results on every roof.

How the film cools without power

Daytime radiative cooling depends on two things: a surface must reject most incoming sunlight, and it must emit heat as thermal infrared radiation. Some of that radiation falls within the atmosphere’s relatively transparent 8–13 micrometre window, allowing energy to escape toward space. The material does not need an electrical input to radiate heat.

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The hybrid film reported in 2017 combined a thin silver reflector with silica-glass microspheres dispersed in transparent polymethylpentene polymer. Much of the sunlight passed through the polymer and reflected off the silver, while the microspheres helped the surface emit infrared energy in the relevant band. Chemistry World’s 2017 report describes the design and its reported performance.

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What researchers have demonstrated

The figures below come from different designs and experiments. They are not directly comparable: materials, measurement methods, sunlight, and test settings differ.

Study or setting Reported result What the result establishes
2017 hybrid film report 93 W/m² average cooling power at midday under direct sunlight; roll-to-roll production at five metres per minute, with hundreds of square metres produced. A research-scale fabrication demonstration and measured cooling result, not proof of retail availability. The report cautions that measurement methods can affect comparisons with earlier work. Chemistry World (2017)
Trench-like roll-to-roll metasurface film 96.1% absorption in the atmospheric window, 95% reflectivity from its silver backing, and more than 120 W/m² cooling power in a thermal test under intense solar irradiation above 700 W/m². Results for that film design and test arrangement, not a universal rating for radiative-cooling films. Light: Science & Applications (2023)
Full-scale model-house experiment During a 72-hour test, the covered roof stayed 2–9 °C below ambient and daytime indoor air stayed 2–14 °C below ambient. Researchers also reported 60–70% less heat influx through the south wall and envelope cooling power of 5–55 W/m². Evidence of indoor-temperature effects in one experiment and comparison setup—not a forecast for a particular home. Energy (2022)
Phoenix park shade-structure field study Film-covered test surfaces averaged 7 °C cooler than control shelter surfaces over the diurnal cycle. The study reported up to 80% lower sensible heat flux and more than 3 °C lower daytime mean radiant temperature beneath the modified structure. Outdoor evidence from a shade structure, not an occupied home. Building and Environment (2024)

What those results mean for a home

A surface below ambient temperature is not the same thing as an air conditioner. The cooling-power figures describe particular material tests; they do not show that a film can hold a chosen indoor temperature, replace mechanical cooling, or deliver a specific household energy-bill saving. The model-house results are relevant to buildings, but they remain tied to that study’s design, test period, and comparison conditions.

Performance depends on the film’s optical design, weather, and how much of the sky it can “see.” Clouds reduce performance, according to the 2017 report. A separate field investigation of passive radiative coolers under Hong Kong’s climate found no daytime cooling from the tested designs under the weather conditions examined, although some configurations cooled at night. Those were different cooler designs, so the finding is a climate-related caution rather than a direct test of the 2017 film. Renewable Energy (2017)

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Seasonal control matters

More cooling is not always desirable. A surface that rejects heat from a building could be a disadvantage in cold weather. In the 2017 report, researcher and mechanical engineer Ronggui Yang warned: “You can’t just put this material directly on the roof because you don’t want to cool your house on a cold day in winter.” A practical roof system would need to suit the climate and building, rather than maximize cooling in every season.

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Can you buy and install this exact film?

The evidence cited here does not establish that the 2017 hybrid film is a standard, generally available home-improvement product. Printing hundreds of square metres at five metres per minute demonstrates a manufacturing method; it does not establish current consumer stock, installation instructions, building-code approval, long-term durability, or performance on a given roof.

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Roll-to-roll radiative-cooling research continued with other designs, including a 2023 report on flexible structured metasurfaces. That work shows ongoing development, not that every research film is interchangeable or ready for residential installation. eLight (2023)

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What to consider instead

Conventional cool roofs are a separate, more established category. They generally use light-colored surfaces with high solar reflectance and thermal emittance to lower roof temperatures and reduce cooling load. A reflective coating is not the same as a selective radiative-cooling metafilm, and its results should not be described using the research film’s performance figures. The model-house study’s bibliographic record and cool-roof background

If you are investigating the adjacent category, “white elastomeric roof coating” is a useful search phrase. Check that any product is suitable for your roof material and climate, and follow its installation and maintenance requirements. The research results above do not verify a specific brand, certification, price, or current listing.

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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

cool roofsenergy efficiencyhome coolingmaterials scienceradiative cooling

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