(Illustration of how the solar-powered air-con might look)

Solar energy has long been considered as a source of power. And more recently, a number of projects have been created in Israel to do more than simply heat water as the conventional sun boilers have been doing for years. Solar energy is now being developed to work in powering air conditioning systems in both home and commercial enterprises.

A Beer Sheva based company, EWA Technologies Group (EWA: for Earth, Water, Air), is developing a solar powered air conditioning system that converts solar energy to a low cost energy system that harnesses the sun’s power and uses it to create cooling.

EWA’s solar cooling process is basically simple: A special solar collector collects and stores solar energy, and then transforms the accumulated energy into effective cooling. A special granular material, placed within the solar collector, reacts with a special liquid cooling fluid that send cool air into a room or office in a process similar to an inter cooling radiator system in an automobile.

The main difference is that instead of relying on a power source such as gasoline or electricity, the system receives its power directly from the sun, which costs virtually nothing and is entirely environmentally friendly. Acting as a heat exchanger, the liquid solution can function also at night, for as long as 8 hours. This means that the system will continue to supply cool air long after sunset; and will continue to do so until the sun “rises” the next morning

Great for Mediterranean Climate

Naturally, the system works best in climates which have many continuous days of sunshine, such as Israel and other Mediterranean countries. EWA Technologies Group also promotes it systems in African countries as well as in countries like India, Australia, China, and Mexico.

Dr. Etan Bar, the company’s CEO, says that his company are working on a number on environmentally friendly projects, including a solar power “water dripper” for providing low cost irrigation systems to hot and desert regions, as well as a air humidity conversion devise that turns water vapor in the air into clean water for both drinking and other uses, including agriculture.

Although the solar air conditioning system is still in the developmental stage, Dr. Bar and his staff hope to have a functioning prototype ready soon that will eventually be able to be mass produced and sold on the world market.

Whether the system will actually be manufactured in Israel has not yet been decided by Bar and his associates as it may prove more economically feasible to produce the system in either China or another Asian country.

But seeing that the technology has been developed in Israel is but another positive factor for a country which has had to do much of its own improvising in its mere 60 years of nationhood.

Get fired up with more Solar Energy on Green Prophet:

Brightsource Launches Solar Energy Plant in the Negev

David Faimen’s Light of a Thousand Suns

Avi Kribus Brings Solar Powered Air Con to Your Home

::EWA Technologies