Coatings with high solar reflectivity: heat build-up in laboratory and real conditions

Abstract

Excessive heat build-up of painted surfaces due to solar radiation and the resulting increase in interior temperatures is undesirable and even dangerous for roofing, facades, and other structural elements. One way to reduce surface temperature is to apply suitably pigmented organic coatings exhibiting high solar reflectance properties. The use of high solar reflectance pigments in paints resulted in coatings with high total solar reflectance (TSR) values, and thus with the ability to reduce the temperature of the painted substrate. The coatings were tested under laboratory and outdoor conditions on two livestock farms. It was found that the developed coatings exhibit significantly higher TSR values than commercial coatings of the same colors designed for painting roofs. The TSR values do not change when the coatings are exposed to the weather.