Cool Use of the Sun

August 1, 2010

Now, Linum Systems, a young Israeli solar air conditioning company, is “solar cooling” and heating homes, using an old approach combined with their own new patents and technology. Linum's CEO Yuval Berson tells ISRAEL21c that the company has yet to produce a formal prototype, but does have a proof of concept.

“Solar cooling” is the process through which solar radiation uses hot water to create cooling systems with no need for electricity. It uses a solar thermal collector, not photovoltaics [utilizing the generation of voltage]. Berson says, “Ours is capable of switching seamlessly from electricity to heating. We are looking at the large private villa or small office as our target, from a 2,000- to a 3,000-square-foot [185–278-square-meter] house. Generally, we are not looking at apartments that have a lot of power demands with very little roof space. What's unique about our idea is that it's practical. In the past, systems were big, cumbersome and expensive.”

Making cool air from the heat of the sun is not a new idea. The company’s two major competitors “use absorption chilling, an old technology that's not cost effective,” states Berson. The company says its air conditioner can cut the cooling, heating, and water-heating electricity bills by as much as 85% on a hot sunny day and 40% annually. “We use a different way to convert heat to cool. We don't use chemicals but standard refrigerates.” And no, not the ones that deplete the ozone.

How efficient the solar system can be is a function of how sunny the region is. As one moves north, more collectors will be needed to convert the sun's heat into cooling systems in the summer and heating for the winter. A beautiful byproduct is continuous hot water. For more information:www.linumsystems.com; info@linumsystems.com

Source: Excerpts of an article by Karen Kloosterman, www.israel21c.org