Sky cooling for LED streetlights

Saichao Dang; Hasan H. Almahfoudh; Abdulrahman M. Alajlan; Hussam Qasem; Jiake Wang; Yingkun Zhu; Osman M. Bakr; Boon S. Ooi; Qiaoqiang Gan

doi:10.1038/s41377-024-01724-7

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Sky cooling for LED streetlights

Original Articles

- Sky cooling for LED streetlights
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 14, Issue 4, Pages: 1016-1029(2025)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Sustainable Photonics Energy Research Laboratory, Material Science Engineering, PSE, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
  2.Future Energy Technology Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia
  3.Functional Nanomaterials Laboratory, Material Science and Engineering, PSE, KAUST, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
  4.Photonics Laboratory, Electrical and Computer Engineering, CEMSE, KAUST, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
- Author bio：
  
  Qiaoqiang Gan (qiaoqiang.gan@kaust.eu.sa)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-024-01724-7
  CLC：
- Received：30 May 2024，
  
  Revised：02 December 2024，
  
  Accepted：2024-12-17，
  
  Published Online：26 February 2025，
  
  Published：30 April 2025
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Dang, S. C. et al. Sky cooling for LED streetlights. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1016-1029 (2025).
DOI：

Dang, S. C. et al. Sky cooling for LED streetlights. Light: Science & Applications, 14, 1016-1029 (2025). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-024-01724-7.

摘要

Abstract

Thermal management is a critical challenge for semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs)

as inadequate heat dissipation reduces luminous efficiency and shortens the devices’ lifespan. Thus

there is an urgent need for more effective cooling strategies to enhance the energy efficiency of LEDs. LED streetlights

which operate primarily at night and experience high chip temperatures

could benefit greatly from improved thermal management. In this study

we introduce a sky-facing radiative cooling strategy for outdoor LED streetlights

an innovative yet less explored approach for thermal management of optoelectronics. Our method employs a nanoporous polyethylene (nanoPE) material that possesses both infrared transparency and visible reflectivity. This approach enables the direct release of heat generated by the LED through a sky-facing radiative cooling channel

while also reflecting a significant portion of the light back for illumination. By incorporating nanoPE as a cover for sky-facing LED lights

we achieved a remarkable temperature reduction of 7.8 ℃ in controlled laboratory settings and 4.4 ℃ in outdoor environments. These reductions were accompanied by an efficiency improvement of approximately 5% and 4%

respectively. This enhanced efficiency translates into substantial annual energy savings

estimated at 1.9 terawatt-hours when considering the use of LED streetlights in the United States. Furthermore

this electricity saving corresponds to a reduction of approximately 1.3 million metric tons of CO2 emissions

equivalent to 0.03% of the total annual CO2 emissions by the United States in 2018.

关键词

Keywords

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