Pascal, a Boston startup spun out of Harvard, is developing solid-state cooling modules that use pressure instead of gaseous refrigerants. The company says the materials get cold when compressed, and stacked modules could work as air conditioners, heat pumps, or refrigerators. It has raised $14.5 million from Engine Ventures and other investors and is now talking with Korean manufacturers about supply chain partnerships. Solid refrigerants are not new. NASA studied them in the 1970s, but the push to cut high-global-warming-potential refrigerants and improve efficiency is giving the idea another look. Pascal's founders say their version works at lower pressures using off-the-shelf parts, which could make it easier to commercialize. The technology is still early. Pascal has 15 employees and no data center cooling systems built yet. For anyone tracking low-carbon cooling, the question is whether the modules can deliver real efficiency gains and scale beyond prototypes.
