Reflective rooftop deployments
Field trials of high-albedo materials on the metal and tin roofs common across heat-exposed homes, workplaces and public buildings.
[ Project · India ]
India Research Programme, Pune.
A long-term MEER research and deployment programme advancing practical cooling technologies for a warming India.
[ Project overview ]
A long-term international research programme — not a rooftop pilot.
The India programme is part of MEER's international research and deployment initiative to develop practical cooling solutions for communities exposed to extreme heat. Based in Pune, the work combines field trials, long-term monitoring, materials research and partnership building — carried out by MEER's India team in collaboration with local communities, research partners and other stakeholders.
1B+
People exposed
to India's annual heatwaves
49 °C
Peak temperatures
recorded in recent summers
Pune
Permanent team
field research & partnerships
Long-term
Programme
not a one-off pilot
[ Why India ]
Some of the world's most severe and persistent heat.
India is experiencing some of the most extreme heatwaves in the world, affecting more than one billion people each year. Temperatures have surged as high as 49 °C (120 °F), and for millions of families in rural and low-income urban areas there is no access to conventional cooling.
Metal and tin roofs — common across informal housing, workplaces and public buildings — absorb intense solar heat throughout the day, driving indoor temperatures well beyond safe levels. That makes low-cost, passive reflective interventions a particularly high-impact area of research.
A single reflective rooftop layer can meaningfully cut the amount of solar energy a home absorbs — without electricity, mechanical parts or refrigerants.
"The India programme is evolving from a rooftop cooling demonstration into a research and innovation hub for practical passive cooling technologies."
[ Current research ]
An active, evolving research programme.
Work today spans field deployment, scientific measurement, materials development and partnership building — a portfolio of activities designed to compound over years.
Long-term monitoring
Continuous measurement of surface and indoor temperatures across seasons and years to quantify real-world cooling performance.
Durability under stress
Ongoing evaluation of how reflective materials hold up under monsoon, dust, humidity and intense UV over multi-year exposures.
Next-generation materials
Research into advanced reflective coatings and Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling (PDRC) surfaces that reject heat directly to the sky.
Strategic partnerships
Collaboration with universities, research institutions, industry and policymakers to move findings from field to scale.
Local technical capacity
A permanent Pune-based team supporting field research, monitoring, community engagement and installation.
[ Cooling technologies ]
From reflective sheeting to radiative cooling.
The programme evaluates a spectrum of passive cooling approaches — from proven high-albedo reflective materials deployed today to advanced coatings and Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling (PDRC) surfaces that can reject heat directly to the sky without electricity.
Each material is tested for optical performance, installation practicality and long-term behaviour on the roofs where cooling is needed most.
[ Long-term monitoring ]
Measured continuously. Evaluated across seasons.
Instrumented rooftops in Pune produce a continuous record of surface and indoor temperatures, allowing the team to track cooling performance, material behaviour and durability over years — not weeks.
Long-term evidence is what turns a promising material into a deployable cooling technology — this is what the Pune programme is built to generate.
[ Research partnerships ]
Delivered with local communities and research partners.
The programme is carried out by MEER's India team in collaboration with universities, research institutions, industry, policymakers and the communities where the work takes place.
01
Universities & research institutions
Joint field measurement, materials characterisation and evaluation of next-generation passive cooling technologies.
02
Local communities & organisations
Household-level collaboration on rooftop deployments, sensor placement and long-term site access.
03
Industry & policymakers
Translating scientific evidence into materials, standards and deployment pathways that can operate at scale.
[ Looking ahead ]
Scaling from single rooftops to community-wide cooling.
Future work will include advanced reflective materials, Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling (PDRC) technologies, new cooling coatings and paints, community-scale interventions, and partnerships supporting wider deployment across India.
[ Short film ]
Living Through Extreme Heat — Rani's Story.
A short film following Rani, a resident of Pune, through daily life during extreme summer heat — and the difference a reflective rooftop can make for the family beneath it.
[ Project gallery ]
Photographs from the field
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6 photographs · Click any image to view full-screen
Partner with MEER's India programme.
We're actively building research and deployment partnerships to expand practical cooling technologies across India and beyond.
Get in touch