Using the heat of the sun to cool our homes could cut energy costs by as much as 85 percent on a hot, sunny day.
It's perfectly logical: When the thermostat rises on scorching hot days, the air conditioners kick in, causing a massive electricity surge that strains the grid. Summer blackouts and brownouts are already occurring in the US. If mismanaged, they may cripple cities and damage local economies.
In April 2006, for instance, parts of Texas experienced rolling blackouts lasting as long as five hours that were caused by air conditioner use. Blackouts from air con use in California were first experienced in early 2000 and continue to be a major priority on the California utility companies' list of problems.
Now, Linum Systems, a young Israeli solar air conditioning company claims it could have the answer. The company is 'solar cooling' and heating homes using an old approach combined with their own new patents and technology.
The company may be just a year old, but it's already attracting interest. The non-profit California Israel Chamber of Commerce identified Linum, based in Pardess Hana in northern Israel, as one of a dozen or so new clean-tech companies from Israel worth meeting. The chamber sent them to California a month ago to meet local investors, utilities companies and possible strategic partners.
Linum was founded in 2009 by solar energy entrepreneurs Yuval Berson and Amir Hirshfeld, both businessmen and engineer grads from the Technion - Israel Institute of Science who had worked for solar energy start-up D.i.S.P.." (source)
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