Solar Powered Beer

A thin film of solar panel on one side, heat pump on the other, could one day be wrapped around a bottle of beer, keeping the beer cold. Steven Van Dessel has announced their Active Building Envelope system (ABE) , comprised of solar panels, solid-state thermoelectric heat pumps and a storage device to provide energy on rainy days, the system accomplishes the jobs of cooling and heating, yet operates silently and with no moving parts.

Besides cooling beer, Van Dessel thinks the new material coul help cool homes and vehicles, rendering current air conditioning and heating systems obsolete.

Science!