Coating compositions for roofing granules, dark colored roofing granules with increased solar heat reflectance, solar heat-reflective shingles and process for producing the same

A plurality of dark-colored roofing granules, each of the dark-colored roofing granules comprising:

• an inert base particle;
• and
• a cured coating disposed about the inert base particle, the cured coating being a reaction product of a coating composition comprising:
• an alkali metal silicate;
• at least one non-clay latent heat reactant;
• and
• at least one inorganic solar heat-reflective pigment, each of the at least one inorganic solar heat-reflective pigments having an L* less than 30 and a solar reflectance greater than 20 percent, and wherein the coating composition comprises at least about 5 percent to 25 percent of the at least one solar heat-reflective pigment,
• wherein
• the plurality of dark-colored roofing granules has an L* less than 30 and a solar reflectance greater than 20, and
• wherein each of the dark-colored roofing granules lacks a light-colored base coat disposed between the inert base particle and the cured coating.