. More than twelve university research groups from Egypt, Italy, Morocco, Turkey and Spain are involved in the development of a type of low-emissivity coatings that would replace conventional paints containing heavy metals and improve the performance of solar collectors, with a less aggressive application process for the environment.This initiative is carried out within the framework of the Termisol project belonging to the Sixth European Framework Programme. One of its associated groups is located at the University of Cádiz, in Spain, where they are responsible for selecting the most appropriate composition and controlling the optical properties for operation as an absorbent coating within the required frequency range.
"After this initial work, the rest of the project partners were in charge of measuring the photothermal performance of the new paintings, giving indications of what had to be changed or corrected," explained Professor Nicolás de la Rosa-Fox, from the Spanish team.
It is expected that the use of this new type of paint can be used where there is a growing demand for energy infrastructure, especially in isolated places and rural areas.
