Award-winning radiative cooling for private building owners, public facilities and utilities.
Cooling a building costs the most on exactly the days it is needed most, because every chiller has to push heat into air that is already hot. SkyRadiance sends that heat to the cold sky instead. Water circulates through a radiative cooling panel array built with 3M film, then into Thermal Energy HQ storage tanks, so cooling can be banked when the sky is best and used when the building needs it.
Technical questions or a different application? Contact TEHQ
Every chiller and heat pump has to dump the heat it pulls out of a building somewhere. On a hot afternoon the only place to put it is outdoor air that is already hot, so the equipment works hardest, and costs the most, on the days you need it most.
The hotter it is outside, the harder a heat pump or chiller has to work to dump heat, and the more electricity it uses.
Many large buildings reject heat by evaporating water, which uses up water every hour they run.
Rejected heat warms the air around the building, adding to the heat the building has to fight.
A near-mirror for sunlight, so very little solar energy soaks into the surface.
It gives off heat in the band the atmosphere lets through, so it leaves instead of warming the air nearby.
Heat flows to the cold sky around the clock. Clear nights are some of the best hours.
The film cools whatever it covers. SkyRadiance turns that into cooling a building can use: a panel array chills water, Thermal Energy HQ storage banks it, and a heat pump delivers it. The array can sit on a roof, on the ground, or on floating platforms over a pond or retention basin. Use the controls to see the pieces work together, day and night, in any weather.
Where it fits
SkyRadiance is a helper for air conditioning, not a replacement. It takes part of the heat load off the equipment you already run, so it pays off fastest at sites with large, steady cooling loads.
Commercial buildings
Offices and campuses with large daytime cooling demand.
Multifamily & hotels
Steady, around-the-clock cooling needs.
Data centers
Heat to reject every hour of the year.
Greenhouses
Hot, sunny sites where every degree matters.
Military installations
Energy security and installation resilience.
High cooling-load sites
Any facility where cooling is a major part of the energy bill.
How it fits
Works with existing HVAC
Takes part of the heat load off chillers and heat pumps. Conventional equipment still covers the peaks and backup.
No water used up
Nothing evaporates. Water circulates in a closed loop, so there is no make-up water to buy or treat the way a cooling tower needs.
Very little power
Gravity moves water down the module. The only power needed is pumping it back to the top.
Made in the USA
SkyRadiance water cascade modules are manufactured in the United States.
SkyRadiance is pre-commercial while tooling, testing and validation finish. Thermal Energy HQ is scoping projects now so they are ready to move when commercial units ship.
Here is how it works:
Private building owners, public facilities and utility program partners are all welcome. Your answers route you to the right engineer.
Common questions about SkyRadiance and how the system works.
SkyRadiance is a water-based radiative cooling system from Thermal Energy HQ. Panels built with 3M passive radiative cooling film send heat to the sky, water carries that cooling to a storage tank, and a heat pump uses the cold tank to cool the building with far less work. It is designed to sit alongside existing HVAC and Thermal Energy HQ thermal storage.
SkyRadiance is designed for organizations with large, steady cooling loads: private commercial and industrial building owners, public facilities such as municipal, education and government buildings, and utilities or program partners running efficiency, load reduction or storage programs.
The panel array needs a clear view of the sky. It can be mounted on a flat roof, on the ground, or on floating platforms over a pond, reservoir or retention basin, which keeps roof and land free for other uses. The cooled water is piped to Thermal Energy HQ storage tanks or directly to the building's cooling system.
SkyRadiance is pre-commercial while tooling, testing and validation are completed. Thermal Energy HQ is talking with owners, facility teams and utilities now so projects can be scoped and planned ahead of commercial release. Use the project form above to start that conversation.
Utilities and program partners can talk with us about including SkyRadiance and thermal storage in efficiency, load reduction or electrification programs. Choose Utility / Program Partner in the form above, or visit our Utilities page.
Every surface gives off heat as infrared light. In the 8 to 13 micrometer band the atmosphere is mostly transparent, so heat emitted there travels straight out to space instead of warming the air nearby. SkyRadiance panels are tuned to that band: water flowing behind the film gives up its heat to the sky and comes back cooler than it left, day and night, with only a small pump running.
The 3M film does two jobs at once. It reflects more than 90% of sunlight, so very little solar energy soaks into the panel, and it emits heat in the band the sky lets through. That is what lets the panel surface run cooler than the air even in full sun, without using any power.
It is the piping and flow assembly inside each SkyRadiance module. Water enters at the top, flows down behind the film by gravity and cools as it goes, and a small pump lifts it back to the top. When the pump stops, the water drains back to the tank, so the modules are not left holding water. Gravity does most of the work, which is why the system needs so little power.
Combine advanced storage, heat pump technology, and solar thermal innovation into one coordinated system designed for efficiency, flexibility, and long term performance.
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