Solid-state cooling advances toward practical use, but challenges remain

As temperatures rise, the need for cooling is growing worldwide. Conventional cooling systems consume large amounts of electricity and use refrigerants with a high global warming potential. Caloric cooling could offer a sustainable alternative by using solid-state materials instead of conventional refrigerants. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), together with international partners, have analyzed the state of development of such systems.