Domestic Applicability of Solid-State Cooling

Abstract

The global surge in energy consumption and the consequential environmental challenges have spurred an escalating demand for innovative, eco-friendly alternatives to current modern technology, and refrigeration systems are no different. With most households today owning a refrigerator amongst other appliances, there is a constant need for energy that is only growing by the year, in 2013 it was found that there was roughly 1.4 billion cold appliances in use within household globally, causing 450 million tons of CO2, using approximately 650 TWh, which is 1.2 times the total electricity consumption of Germany that same year, with a 27% increase to the number of cold appliances, [1]. Even with the efficiency of technology being improved over the years, there is still the ever-increasing demand for energy. Due to their complex crystal structures and the delicate balance required between their attributes, challenges do occur when attempting to identify suitable multiferroic materials, ongoing research aims to optimize their properties. Though harnessing the potential of these multiferroic materials and their intrinsic characteristics, may offer a sustainable solution for both industrial and residential refrigeration.