Solid‑Crystal Cooling Could Replace Old Fridge Tech

Refrigerators still use the same 100‑year‑old idea of vapor compression. A new start‑up wants to stop that trend. Barocal has invented a way to heat and cool with just an inexpensive solid. Its early models match current fridge compressors in power, but they use far less electricity. There is also no danger of leaking greenhouse gases. The company has raised $10 million in seed money from investors such as World Fund and Breakthrough Energy Discovery. Founder Xavier Moya began this work while studying materials physics at Cambridge. He was fascinated by how solid substances can absorb and release heat when squeezed or stretched. An old trick he shows people is to deflate a balloon, press it against their lips, and pull it back out.When they stretch it, the balloon warms; when they let go, it cools. Barocal’s material behaves similarly. Its molecules normally rotate freely. When the material is compressed, the rotation stops and heat is released. Releasing pressure lets it absorb heat again. In a fridge, the solid moves heat from inside to outside. Water runs over it and then flows into a radiator. Because the material is solid, there are no leaks of refrigerant gas. Traditional refrigerators use gases that can damage the ozone layer or trap heat in the atmosphere. Barocal plans to test its system first on large HVAC units and big refrigerators, where the energy savings will be most noticeable. The goal is to make a quick, big impact on business costs.