Qurie GmbH has developed a heat pump that replaces traditional vapor-compression cycles with solid-state materials, potentially reaching over 70% theoretical efficiency and cutting energy use by up to 30%. Its patented heat-pipe-based design enables fast evaporation-condensation heat transfer without complex mechanics, achieving up to 20 Hz operation and aiming for compact, efficient cooling in sub-10 kW applications.
This was a interesting read. I didn’t even know that electrocaloric materials existed. :)
Having read the explanation of how it works, I think the biggest difficulty waiting for them on the curve is achieving considerable levels of power.
But they seem to firmly believe that they can get past an instrument cooler to a residential heat pump.