Following up on Pre-Stolen Ideas and Truly Anonymous Search, here's an idea I've been kicking around for quite some time: Create a (commercially available) type of paint that absorbs (the majority of) the visible spectrum, but reflects (most) everything else. The idea being that black is a desirable color for many purposes (cars, clothing, etc), but it has the unfortunate drawback of getting quite hot in the sun, as it absorbs a large portion of the sun's energy spectrum, including infrared and ultraviolet. This paint would look black to you and me, but by reflecting non-visible colors (i.e. energy) it should stay cooler than 'regular' blacks. Specialized, spectrum sensitive paints, exist (like radar-absorbing paint, used in many military installations), so I'd think this should be feasible. No?
posted by Oskar Austegard at 2:15 PM on Aug 14, 2006
"Idea: Cool Black Paint"
2 Comments -
This was already done for roofing materials, and is being pushed in California and Florida:
http://eetdnews.lbl.gov/nl19/cool.htm
Sunday, November 30, 2008 10:17:00 PM
15 years later: The Audi A6 E-Tron Has Heat-Reflecting Paint
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 6:31:00 PM