High-Efficiency and Scalable Cooling Solution for Parked Cars: Coupling Radiative Cooling and Latent Heat Storage

Overheating of parked cars under sunlight poses significant problems, introducing heightened risks of spontaneous combustion and excessive energy consumption for cooling. However, effective cooling strategies remain lacking. In this work, we pioneered the strategy of coupling radiative cooling with latent heat storage to achieve high-efficiency and scalable cooling. Radiative cooling is realized by coating radiative paint on the surface of a commercial car cover featuring high sunlight reflectance and infrared emissivity. Optimized phase change materials with shape stability and high enthalpy are utilized within the cabin. The dual-mode system demonstrates a cooling performance that successively maintains the cabin’s temperature below 22.5 °C when the bare car’s temperature reaches 60 °C. This thermal management performance stems from morning to noon’s external thermal insulation and internal heat storage, paired with evening to night’s efficient dissipation of internal released heat, providing a highly efficient and sustainable solution for parked car cooling under sunlight.