Post by Baron von Lotsov on Feb 25, 2024 20:11:34 GMT
No sooner than you have paid some 12 grand for a new heat pump, someone comes out with a better idea. There are some old ideas which have become new ideas about exothermal and endothermal chemical reactions. Some very cheap materials exhibit these properties by mixing water and the substance will give off heat. Take the water away and the same stuff gets colder. If you use the sun's radiant energy to dry it then you could store this dried chemical until you need some heat, where you just add water. The scheme benefits from no moving parts because it is a chemical reaction and also one can get greater efficiency than solar cells because you can use the entire radiation spectrum of the sun for heating, where for solar cells they only use a part of the spectrum and are just over 20% efficient. Anyway, we have the first commercial product using this technology, but in this case it has been developed for industrial use. Domestic adaptation could follow.