A heating system includes a refrigerant boiler including a heat source for heating a refrigerant from a liquid state to a vapor state, a boiler outlet and a boiler inlet; a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the refrigerant boiler, the heat exchanger including a upper manifold having a heat exchanger inlet coupled to the boiler outlet, a lower manifold having a heat exchanger outlet coupled to the boiler inlet and a plurality of tubes connecting the upper manifold and the lower manifold, wherein refrigerant passes from the upper manifold to the lower manifold via gravity; and a fan moving air over the heat exchanger to define supply air for a space to be heated.

A water tank that is used with a solar air conditioning system and provides a supply of cold water for in-dwellings radiators of the system. In one embodiment, the tank application can begin at 32 F degrees and drop down to many degrees colder, such as, but not limited to, minus 100 F degrees. In one non-limiting embodiment, the tank can hold 2000 gallons of water.

A radiation device or the like has a structure for selectively converting thermal energy into an electromagnetic wave. The radiation device has a conductor layer, a semiconductor layer, and a plurality of conductor disks. The plurality of conductor disks are arranged on the semiconductor layer so that the same arrangement pattern is constituted in each of a plurality of unit constituent regions each having a rectangular shape with a side of 4.5 to 5.5 μm. The arrangement pattern of individual unit components includes nine conductor disks so as to correspond to a 3×3 matrix, and the nine conductor disks include four or more kinds of conductor disks having diameters different from each other. As a result, a two-dimensional periodic structure of the arrangement pattern is formed on the semiconductor layer.

An optical refrigerator for cooling an infrared detector or sensor, that includes a laser radiation source, a cooling crystal for receiving laser radiation from the source and to be cooled, an element to be cooled, and a thermal link in heat exchange between the crystal and the element to be cooled, in order to transfer frigories from the crystal to the element to be cooled. The thermal link comprises two plates having respective first ends in heat exchange with two distinct surfaces of the crystal, respectively, the two plates having second ends in heat exchange with the element to be cooled.

An optical refrigerator for cooling an infrared detector or sensor, that includes a laser radiation source, a cooling crystal for receiving laser radiation from the source and to be cooled, an element to be cooled, and a thermal link in heat exchange between the crystal and the element to be cooled, in order to transfer frigories from the crystal to the element to be cooled. The thermal link comprises two plates having respective first ends in heat exchange with two distinct surfaces of the crystal, respectively, the two plates having second ends in heat exchange with the element to be cooled.

A solid-state optical refrigerator for cryogenic cooling of a payload, the solid-state optical refrigerator including a laser cooling crystal including a first material and a dopant material; a thermal link including a second material, the thermal link being bonded to the laser cooling crystal and the thermal link being configured to be thermally linked to the payload to transfer heat conductively from the payload to the laser cooling crystal via the thermal link; and a vacuum chamber housing the laser cooling crystal and the thermal link, the vacuum chamber and thermal link having a combination of shape and coating such that laser and fluorescence light reflected off a wall of the vacuum chamber and laser and fluorescence light propagating within the thermal link are not incident on the payload.

A smart sub-ambient radiative cooling composition including TiO.sub.2 particles; inorganic particles selected from the group consisting of SiO.sub.2, CaCO.sub.3, SiC, ZnO, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, ZnO, and mixtures thereof; fluorescent pigment particles; and a polymer useful for sub-ambient radiative cooling, methods of preparation, and use thereof.

Cooling by a twist-untwist process, by a stretch-release process for twisted, coiled, or supercoiled yarns or fibers, and methods and systems thereof. High mechanocaloric cooling results from release of inserted twist or from stretch release for twisted, coiled, or supercoiled fibers, including natural rubber fibers, NiTi wires, and polyethylene fishing line. Twist utilization can increase cooling and cooling efficiencies. A cooler using twist insertion and release can be shorter and smaller in volume than a cooler that requires a large elastomeric elongation. The cooler system can be utilized in mechanochromic textiles and remotely readable tensile and torsional sensors.

Cooling by a twist-untwist process, by a stretch-release process for twisted, coiled, or supercoiled yarns or fibers, and methods and systems thereof. High mechanocaloric cooling results from release of inserted twist or from stretch release for twisted, coiled, or supercoiled fibers, including natural rubber fibers, NiTi wires, and polyethylene fishing line. Twist utilization can increase cooling and cooling efficiencies. A cooler using twist insertion and release can be shorter and smaller in volume than a cooler that requires a large elastomeric elongation. The cooler system can be utilized in mechanochromic textiles and remotely readable tensile and torsional sensors.

A heat exchanger system includes a heat exchanger coil circulating a first heat transfer fluid therethrough, and a fan at least partially surrounded by the heat exchanger coil to urge a flow of air through the heat exchanger coil to dissipate thermal energy from the first heat transfer fluid. A brushless direct current fan motor is located the fan to urge rotation of the fan and an ancillary electrical component operably connected to the heat exchanger system and electrically isolated from the first heat transfer fluid.